Saga of the Hunters
by the other four horsemen
Summary: Johto presents more challenges than Ian had thought. But a new traveling companion, a confusing pseudo-relationship, and the growing seeds of a harsh rivalry with his best friend might be the least of his problems. Only one thing is certain: it's not over
1. Prologue: the Story so Far

**Prologue: the Story so Far**

My name is Ian Cartwright and I am alive.

That's not the best way to start this, especially if you haven't read my account of my exploits so far.

On that note, I don't blame you not wanting to go back and read the first book in the trilogy of my adventures. It's quite lengthy, and I wouldn't blame you at all if you picked up the tale right here. Those of you who are, however, familiar with the prequel (titled **Saga of the Storm**, for any interested) can go ahead and skip this prologue.

Newcomers, read on: I have quite a story to tell.

(-o-)

It started with a death.

My brother's death, to be exact.

I was going from my home in Hoen to Kanto, ready to start my Pokemon adventure in the birthplace of champions. My best friend Richard traveled with me, as did my older brother Matt. But Matt had ulterior motives for traveling with us: he was an agent for a secret group of individuals called the Hermes, assigned to protect a girl named Casey Ryne.

She was on the airship with us.

The person Matt was protecting her from was a man named John Rook, who was, as it turned out, rather closer than expected. He boarded the airship, destroyed it, and in the ensuing battle, killed my brother in cold blood.

With his dying breath, my brother told me that Rook worked for a radical environmentalist group called the Storm's Eye, and that it now fell to me to find and protect the girl, Casey, from their clutches.

With my life shattered, I swore to avenge Matt's death at whatever the cost by defeating John Rook in battle.

And that was where my troubles really began.

I spent a while tracking down the Storm's Eye. I sabotaged one of their bases, but it was clear that I wasn't making any real headway. And then, fate interceded. Well, maybe it was fate. Maybe it was just luck. Who knows? Anyways, by chance, Richard and I ran into Casey at the Celadon City Gym, where she was battling Erica.

After a rather confusing conversation, in which she tried to convince me I was not the Casey she was looking for, we parted ways again.

Feeling more lost than every, Richard and I made our way to Fuchsia City, where we were ambushed by to Storm's Eye grunts in retribution for my previous meddling. Luckily, our fight with the goons also drew the attention of Casey, who happened to be in the town at the same time for her gym battle.

Seeing the Storm's presence so close at hand, Casey decided to join our party. Safety in numbers.

We continued on to our next gym battle, unaware that we were being tailed by some genetically enhanced Pokemon controlled by the Storm's Eye. Only a few nights after we met her, Casey was kidnapped.

Richard and I, bound by a newfound friendship to Casey, sought out the Storm's Eye's safe house in Lavender Town. While we didn't find immediately, we did stumble onto the Storm's greater plan: they were capturing the Legendary Birds and harnessing them for some opaque purpose. Using the radio tower in Lavender, some Storm operatives captured Zapdos.

We followed them back to their base –a floating ring-shaped fortress called the Iris- and rescued Casey, along with the gym leader Sabrina, who had been held captive there as well.

Narrowly escaping from the Iris, and the recently returned Rook, we fled to Casey's house in Pallet Town. After a brief rest, and picking up Casey's grandfather's Pokemon (an ancient, powerful Blastoise named Sebastian) we moved on to Cinnabar Island.

There, we learned that the gym leaders Blaine and Koga had observed our actions and decided to give us some useful pointers. Our training ended rather badly though: Rook showed up, eager to finish us off to prevent any further interventions.

He defeated us, taking Moltres, which Casey had captured, with him. The bird was the final piece of puzzle for Rook; it was the catalyst for his takeover to begin.

Forcing the three birds to fight one another, Rook summoned and captured Lugia. He harnessed its abilities to form an extremely powerful weapon, with which he held the city of Viridian captive.

With the help of the champions, some gym leaders, and a few of my brother's fellow Hermes agents, we attacked the Iris. But not in time: to demonstrate his power, Rook destroyed the Pokemon League building. Casey and I then fought together, defeating Rook at the last moment, and it seemed as thought everything was over…

But there was a revelation: Casey discovered that her late grandfather had been the creator of the Storm's Eye, but Rook had taken over and perverted his dream. In an attempt to return to the Storm's Eye to her grandfather's original vision, Casey attempted to kill Rook. I couldn't let her do that, especially when she was too enraged to consider the consequences. So I knocked Rook of the Iris, leaving his fate to… well, fate.

Casey was distraught and left us, stealing an airship, to complete her goal.

And this was not our only betrayal: Tori LeTour, Champion of Sinnoh and alley in our recent fight, stole the recently captured Legendary Pokemon (thought Lugia had already been set free) for her own ambitious purposes.

Richard and I were awarded our seventh badges. We took a well deserved rest in the Orange Islands.

Realizing that the Pokemon League Challenge was only a few days away, Richard and I returned to Viridian quickly to claim our final badges. Richard got into the gym just in time to fight, but I was left outside. Luckily, a unique situation presented itself. Casey arrived, just back from her failed quest to destroy Rook, and offered to give me her final badge if I could defeat her in a battle.

I did, and Casey rejoined our team, but I was still bitter at her betrayal. My response to her return was not the one she had hoped for.

The three of us flew to Seven Island in Casey's stolen airship to compete in the League Challenge, which was taking place at the Battle Tower. My father came to watch, and the newfound distance between Casey and I slowly began to fide.

During my final match in the tournament, against Richard, Rook returned. He held Casey and the entire Battle Tower captive by threatening to crash an airship into it. His ultimatum was simple: he wanted a fair one-on-one fight with me. I accepted to save Casey and the other innocent people in the Tower.

This time, we were horribly mismatched. Rook defeated me without much difficulty, but we were saved at the last minute.

A mysterious man in black, riding my late brother's Dragonite, arrived and diverted the airship. In the meantime, Rook was arrested and taken to the Iron Island. Casey and Richard and finally became safe… or so it would seem.

But there are still questions: what did Tori do after her betrayal? Could she still be at large? And is Rook finally out of the picture? Are we free to just… get on with our lives?

Yes, that's the most important one: are we done now? Is this it? Is it over?

No, quite frankly.

As you will soon find out.


	2. Chapter 1: Special Delivery

**Chapter 1: Special Delivery**

The three of us sat in the airport lobby. It was a very typical room: cavernous, large glass walls, sterile linoleum surfaces, reflections everywhere you looked. Beyond the far walls, which were, in fact, transparent, was the landing strip, over which airships droned by like directionally confused clouds.

I looked to my right.

Richard sat beside me. His longish blonde hair was rather disheveled after sleeping on a train for nine hours. Had he been a little more awake, he might have bothered drawing up the hood of his white sweatshirt to hide this fact; Richard was more than a little conceited, which was strange considering how generally oblivious he was. He yawned, blue eyes vanishing behind folds of flesh, and shrugged to stretch his shoulders.

I looked to my left.

Casey's copper hair hung down just past her shoulders. Somehow, despite the long, compact ride aboard the Magnet Train, it remained untangled. She was wearing a typical black tank-top and khaki shorts. It was warm in Goldenrod City, unseasonably so. I caught my gaze and smiled. She yawned as well, but remembered halfway through that yawning is a bit rude and half-hearted stifled it. She was still smiling dreamily when she drew her hand away.

I am Ian, no one particularly special. My comfortable traveling clothes (well, not the traveling clothes I was used to: our clothes at the moment were more for traveling in comfort than in the field; we would all be back in our trainer gear soon enough) consisted of jeans, a green t-shirt, and a dark leather glasses. I assumed that my hair was fairly disheveled as well, but that only made me less remarkable among the hundreds of uncomfortable people in the airport.

We were waiting for… something.

As our train departed Saffron City, headed for the Johto region, my father had told me to come here to meet someone. He had mentioned something about a man, and traveling, but I didn't catch all of it since, you know, we were on a moving train and stuff.

So we waited.

(-o-)

A good hour later, we had hardly moved. The train had arrived in Goldenrod just before sunset and we had crawled limply off it, stretched ourselves in the pre-dawn glow, and immediately wished we were still asleep.

Richard stumbled up, mumbling something about needing to send his parents a message. I doubted this, considering he had spent every morning for the last month and half claiming that he was about to do just that, but I nodded and volunteered to buy us breakfast.

I stood, disturbing Casey from where she had fallen asleep, using my leg as a pillow. It was still a little… awkward between us. She was clinging to me as fervently as ever, and I wasn't sure exactly how to respond, so I let her cling. I knew that it was probably a bad idea, but she seemed to really need someone, something to hold on to. And I, of course, didn't have the heart to turn her away again.

I was halfway across to the room, headed to a concession-niche in the wall, when I heard a noise from the PC that I never had heard before.

I turned around. Richard stood, somewhat shocked, in front of the machine. I sighed. Of course.

I walked over to him, already preparing a careful mental monologue about why there are certain buttons on public computers which should be pressed, but I as I neared him, I realized that the situation was not quite as I had guessed.

The PC's screen was flashing red and green. Loud letters proclaimed from it,

SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR RICHARD DAVIS

REMAIN IN YOUR CURRENT LOCATION

POSTMAN WILL LOCATE YOU WITH PACKAGE MOMENTARILY

I looked at Richard, eyebrows raised preemptively. He only shrugged; he still looked shell-shocked.

I started turning back to the bench where we had been sitting moments before and jumped in surprise: Casey had materialized right behind me and was now squinting over Richard's shoulder at the screen.

"I have a bad feeling about this, guys," I said. "Flashing screens are rarely a good thing, especially when their telling you not to move…"

"Wait," crooned Casey, still half-asleep. "I think we need to wait."

Like we weren't doing enough of that already.

(-o-)

A few blocks from the airport (immediately in front of the train station, in fact), a man in a navy suit and peaked cap was scanning the crowd. He was rather tall, and didn't have too much trouble looking over people's heads, but he was having trouble locating his quarry. It shouldn't have been: he was a recognizable boy, with two recognizable companions, getting off the morning Overnight Express from Saffron City.

Waddling along at the man's side was a squat, avian creature. Its skin was polychrome, wine red and white, and it gripped its bulging tail in one wing-like paw. The Delibird watched its master with eager, beady eyes.

The delivery Pokemon looked down. On its free arm, a metal band encircled its wrist. There was a red light on the bracelet, almost like a watch-face, but it had no numbers or any indicators of time. It was, however, blinking.

Delibird squawked informatively at the man in the blue suit who looked down at it. He smiled, his face mirroring the shape of his cap, and checked the Pokenav in his breast pocket. It was blinking as well.

There was an alert coming in from a local PC, just a few blocks away.

Delibird in tow, the man set off for the airport, in search of his quarry.

(-o-)

After a few minutes of frozen stillness, we decided that it would probably be alright with PC if we sat down at a table nearby. It didn't stop flashing though, and no one else tried to use it.

Casey was dozing off again and Richard had bought three hotdogs (for breakfast; oh goody…) before we found out what all the flair was about.

"Richard Davis?" asked a kind, crisp voice from behind us.

We turned our heads slowly, as one. There was a man in a blue suit with a peaked cap, like a milkman might have worn if there had ever actually been milkmen. The misspelled word "X-Press" was written in an ironically unexciting font on the man's headgear. A Delibird jigged excitedly at his feet.

"Yeah," said Richard. I resisted the urge to swat my forehead.

"Special delivery for you, sir." The man gestured to his Pokemon. With a giddy flourish, the Delibird reached into its tail-sack and pulled forth a small box wrapped in plain white paper. It handed the parcel to its trainer, who in turn offered it to Richard.

My friend just stared at for a few minutes, surprised.

"For me?"

"Express mailed from Seven Island, sir. Very important, I've been told, to deliver at greatest haste."

Seven Island? We'd been there barely a month ago. Surely if anything had been intended for us, it would have been given then.

The deliveryman did not move. Neither did his Pokemon. They both stared intently at Richard, waiting for him to take and presumably open his gift.

After another moment of silent staring, Richard took the box and tore off the paper unceremoniously. Beneath the paper was tin. A tin, actually, colored red and white in a pokeball pattern. It reminded me of a lunchbox I'd had as a kid, back in Foretree City.

With a metallic ting, Richard snapped it open. Inside was a letter, and underneath, a shiny piece of laminated paper just the size of a playing card.

It was the card that Richard picked up first. A quick glance told us that it was a trainer ID. Richard already had one of those (we all did, and they were updated each time we added a new Pokemon to our team or our statuses changed) but this one was different. Where as our old cards were pale red green and yellow, this one deep ruby red. Also, the picture of Richard was more recent; I wondered where it had been taken from. Richard's information beamed helpfully from several neat lines on the card. It was nice. Very nice.

Next, he looked at the letter. Casey and I didn't ask to read it. We waited for the explanation.

"It's from Ryoku," Richard said, his voice growing steadily more and more excited. "He says that he congratulates me on my final battle in the League Challenge and that he believes it to be sheer bad luck that I lost. As a top eight finisher… I am cordially invited to compete in the Johto League Tournament in six months time as a personal friend and exceptional trainer!"

I eyed the card and letter enviously. Richard wasn't the only one who had fought well in the tournament: I dropped out, wishing to avoid a conflict with my best friend, and perhaps this was the price I was paying. This was Karma, nipping at my ass…

What he about the Johto League reminded me: in just three months, the Hoen league Challenge would take place. The Pokemon Leagues ran in syncopation: Kanto, Hoen, Johto, Sinnoh; each was three months after the last, so that enough trainers had time to gather their badges and prepare their Pokemon.

I went for a walk, leaving Richard to enjoy his special delivery and Casey to sleep.

What we didn't know was that we had another special delivery already on the way, and the one coming was more shocking than the one we'd already received.


	3. Chapter 2: Journal Entry 1

**Chapter 2: Journal Entry I**

I can't wait!

But that's not a very good way to start a diary, so…

My name is Dana Kasari and my Pokemon journey starts today. Yesterday was my fourteenth birthday, and my parents and I have decided that I'm ready to leave home for a while. My dad's friend has a son that's just starting his journey in the Johto region, and I'm on my way to join him now.

I've had such an exciting day -that's why I'm writing about it in this journal my mom just gave me. It's a day worth writing about for sure. After all, as important days go, a trainer's first has got to be up there

My first morning as a fourteen-year-old was well spent: I was up at the crack of dawn, which I guess evened out the score since I slept until about noon on my birthday. As soon as I was up, I showered and dressed in the travel clothes my parents had got me.

White shirt, warm vest, hiking boots. There were durable nylon pants that my parents had insisted on me bringing, but I didn't think I'd be doing much roughing on my first day, so I wore a skirt instead. My Snubbull, Chowchow, watched as I packed away my Pokenav, spare clothes, bedroll, and pokeballs in my new backpack. There were only two things left to take: my grey beanie sat on my dresser, right next to the bracelet of prayer beads I always wore. My dad gave them to me when I was a baby, and they were supposed to be good luck, to keep me safe. I would need all the luck I could get, dad said. I was going to have quite a journey ahead of me.

Well, I was ready for it! I'd spent the last year waiting for my birthday to roll around so that I could go and find my friends that left last year. I wanted to battle, explore, show my stuff.

But first, I had to get some stuff to show.

My dad has some connections –he's an old friend of Professor Birch, so the Prof. was coming to Foretree specially to give me my starter. Apparently, he had already provided one trainer with a Torchic, and he didn't replenish his stock until he was out, so I was given my choice in advance. Treecko or Mudkip?

They were both so cute, it was really hard to choose… but I was already starting to make up my mind.

I caught a jealous glint in Chowchow's eyes when he caught me looking at sample pictures of the Pokemon. I felt bad that he was staying behind, but Chowchow was as much mom's Snubbull as mine, and I didn't want my parents to be lonely when I left them in Foretree.

Around noon, our doorbell rang. My dad answered it, and I heard him jovially greeting Birch from where I stood at the top of the stairs. I glanced out the front door and saw a huge, red and black Swellow resting in our driveway. A Seedot tottered along at Birch's feet. He was a Pokemon-loving guy, I guess.

Professor Birch was tall, not overweight but not exactly skinny. His hair fell to his shoulders and had probably once been sandy brown: now it was streaked with grey, as was his short, well-trimmed beard. He wore a lab coat over khaki shorts and navy t-shirt. He looked like an aging med-school dropout. Or some kind of hippy. He adjusted his glasses and shook my dad's hand after he was in the door.

"This must be the young trainer!" he said. He shook my hand too; his grip was like hardened wood. "Are you excited? I remember how my daughter was on her first day as a trainer… God, that was… twenty years ago. Maybe more. It's hard to say."

His voice petered out. I thought hard about who his daughter was, fairly sure that I had met her before… no, I couldn't quite place it. Oh well.

After a few minutes of interview-type questions and average conversation came the question we had all been waiting for.

"So have you decided which Pokemon you're going to choose?"

I felt Chowchow's eyes boring into my back.

"Um…"

"If you need a little more time, I can…"

"No, no," I said, shaking my head. "I think I know which one I want. Could I have… Mudkip?"

There was a loud growl from behind me. I jumped at the noise and my mind swung around like a wrecking ball

"Wait, no! Treecko."

My Snubbull made a slightly more consenting noise. I don't know why he egged me toward getting a Treecko… it was strange. Perhaps he thought that Treecko could look after me better than Mudkip. Maybe he was jealous and thought that Treecko wasn't as cute as Mudkip.

Whatever it was, I had myself a grass Pokemon, for better or for worse. Truth be told, I had only wanted Mudkip because it was cuter than Treecko, and that wasn't a very good reason. I guess Chow was calling my mistake. And if he was doing it for me, it was probably for the best.

So, Pokemon in hand, I was ready to go.

(-o-)

Our house is only a few miles from the airport, so we decided to walk. Chowchow and my new Treecko bounded around my ankles; I think Chow was trying to teach Treecko a few incomprehensible things. Chow looked determined, but Treecko was just confused. He was still new at all of this, and mostly he just scampered around, rolling through the grass and jumping at the Taillows.

I was new at it too, but I wasn't trying to grab the birds. I was talking with my dad for what would be last the time in a few months.

"Stay warm and dry. Don't touch any plants you don't recognize, and stay away from strangers until your Pokemon are strong enough that you can defend yourself. Ian and Richard are both strong trainers, so you should be safe until then… most of all, stick with the boys, trust your Pokemon and yourself and be…"

"Dad, what are you talking about? I thought you hadn't ever been a trainer."

My dad muttered uncomfortable for a moment. He gets ahead of himself a lot. He is a tall, balding man, not very old. He scratched the side of his head unhappily, but continued nonetheless.

"Well, I've been reading, sweetie. And I talked to Mr. Cartwright via video message. He's given me a few tips from his old trainer days. Oh, and he also told me to tell you that Ian's changed a lot since you last saw him. You might not recognize him, so keep an open mind when you're looking for him in Goldenrod City. He should be there to meet you at the airport."

"Changed how?" I asked.

"He didn't say," answered my dad. He looked at the concrete he was walking over. The long, low hangers of the Foretree Airfield appeared at the end of the street, on the northern edge of town. Here, the trees had been cleared out to make room for incoming airships. I watched their big, bloated forms drift in and out of the sky, wondering which one was mine.

"Only different." He turned back to me and smiled. I smiled back; my eyebrows pushed at the edge of my gray beanie.

My dad put his arm around me and we walked the last few blocks to the airport.

(-o-)

"Oh, we're going to miss so much, aren't we Chowchow?"

The Snubbull hung dejectedly, like a doll, from my mom's arms. She had just finished telling my how much she loved me and how she didn't know what they would do without me. My dad stood at her side, stoic and half-smiling, as he watched me pick up my backpack and turn toward the gondola's door.

I'll skip the mushy goodbye, because, well, this is a diary, and frankly there was too much adieu to write about. But there is one more thing worth mentioning, which affected the way I left Foretree and came to where I am writing this (my cabin on the airship).

As the zeppelin began building speed for takeoff, powering down the runway like a boat in the air, I could just barely make out my parents waving from the roof of the airport lounge… and a small cloud of dust following me down the runway.

I was in the galley of the airship, and all the windows were open to let through a pleasant breeze during the easy takeoff. I leaned out to try and get a better look at what was coming my way. I laughed in surprise: Chowchow was barreling across the field, faster than I'd ever seen him go. His was on all fours. His legs looked like a single pink cloud carrying him along. Treecko was clinging to the glass beside me, watching as well. He made a high pitch noise and waved his arms in the air, cheering Chow along.

I realized then exactly what Chow was trying to do. I was touched by his concern and caring, and his willingness to leave home to be with me –after all, Chow had only left the boarder of our front gate three times before. I thought about it and realized that all three of those times, he had left the house to protect me from wild Pokemon. I guess he didn't think Treecko was strong enough to watch over me on his own. Chowchow was coming with us.

The airship wasn't moving very quickly yet, and it was still only a few feet off the ground. My Snubbull caught up in seconds, but I could see him beginning to slow. Chow's chest heaved dangerously. He didn't have much energy left.

I leaned as far out of the window as I dared and dangled my arms down. We were starting the takeoff. The wind was whipping up. Chowchow didn't have much time to make his move…

With a determined (and yet still adorable) bark, he leapt as hard as he could. His paw swiped my fingertips, but it was not enough of a grasp and Chow fell back to the ground. He stayed on his feet though, and kept running.

I could feel the airship shift; it started ascending slowly. We would only get one more shot.

With another loud grunt, Chow jumped again.

And then several things happened at once.

To start with, Treecko hopped onto my back, then flowed quickly down my arm and stretched through air as far as he could. His thin green arm extended my reach just enough that for a second, I thought Chow would be able to get a grip… suddenly, the airship shook as a breeze buffeted its hull, and Treecko feel. I screamed in surprise –I had almost fallen out the window too- and managed to grab Treecko's outstretched arm just in time. Then I noticed, to my dismay, that Chowchow had already jumped.

The pink Pokemon arced through the air, jaws still wide from his bark…

His teeth clamped smoothly around Treecko's tail.

With a screech of surprise and pain, Treecko bolted up my arm and back onto the airship. The force their motion pulled me back in as well, and when I picked myself up off the floor and looked around the room, I saw Treecko bouncing off the walls, Chow still firmly attack to his tail.

It looked like some kind of gag, and I couldn't help it, I started laughing. I had a feeling that I'd be seeing a similar picture a lot in the coming weeks.

And so began my adventure. I'll try to write in this journal as often as I can, but I'll so busy being a trainer that I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up. I will try though. After all, someone's got to chronicle my adventure.

And if it's not me, then who?


	4. Chapter 3: Memory

**Chapter 3: Memory**

Well, whoever we were waiting for was sure taking their time.

Now fully awake and boredly roaming the airport terminals, Casey, Richard, and I were eager to get going. It was only my insistence that we carry out my dad's request that anchored us to there. If only it was clear as to why we had to say… I called my dad twice with the phone in my Pokedex (I hadn't gotten to try it out on any actually Pokemon yet, but it was still great to have), but his Nav was turned off, so I couldn't reach him; it had probably died, because he never remembered to charge it.

After circumnavigating the airport twice, we found ourselves right back where we had started. I could even make out the same PC that had gone berserk and brought Richard his special delivery.

"Ok," huffed Richard. He was a few steps ahead of me, and turned around to talk. "Enough is enough. We're not even sure what your dad was talking about when he told us to come here. Hell, for all we know, he might not have even told us to do this."

"Yes," I said. "Yes he did. I'm sure he did…"

Could I have misheard my dad? The wind was picking up, I might have heard someone else's voice…

And then I heard another voice. I hadn't heard it in a long time, and even then it was difficult to recognize.

"Wait," I said, holding up a hand to freeze any incoming retort from Richard.

I stood on my toes –I'm pretty tall, but there were more tallish people around me. Richard saw what I was doing and turned around. He ducked helpfully.

"What are you doing?" Casey asked.

"I think," I said, "I see someone I know."

And sure enough, there she was.

I hadn't seen Dana since just before I left, the day before, to be precise. She was a few months younger than me and lived in Foretree. In fact, her house was just down the street from mine, and by extension, a few blocks from Richard's. The three of us went to school together and had grown up as a Three Musketeers-esque ensemble.

I could see her, staring around like a lost kid. Her eyes were as wide as any other country bumpkin's on arriving for the first time in a big city. She was wearing the same gray beanie she always had; come to think of it, I could count on one hand the number times I'd seen her without that thing since we met. There was a Pokemon hunched on each her shoulders. Her mother's well-groomed, pink Snubbull cast his trademark, under-bitten scowl around the room from his perch; I think his name was Froofy or Chewy or something like that. Opposite the Snubbull crouched a large, healthy Treecko. Dana's new starter Pokemon was sleek and green, still fresh and zealous from Birch's Pokemon Reserve in Twinleaf Town.

Suddenly, everything clicked into place.

Back on the train: Airfield… find… Mr… sent his… meet you, and… travel…

_Go to the airfield and find Dana. Mr. Kasari sent her to meet you, and she'd like to travel with you a while._

I guess Dana had finally turned fourteen and gotten her first Pokemon. True, you could legally get your starter at ten, but these days, most people were more concerned about at least completing middle school before you set out on your journey. After all, you never knew when you'd get home again.

"Dana!" I called, snapping back from my rapidly derailing train of thought. "Over here Dana!"

"Dana?" asked Richard, straightening back up, blocking my view. "From Foretree? What's she doing here?"

I explained quickly about my possible deciphering of my dad's shouts. Richard just nodded as if my suggestion was as likely or unlikely as any other.

"Someone you know, I take it?" asked Casey.

"Yeah, we went to school together last year. Old friend. I think she's going to…"

"I heard you explain to Richard," Casey said, stopping me.

She scanned Dana, who was at this point struggling toward us through a crowd of exiting airship passengers, with an appraising gray eye, as if she was gauging how useful the girl might be in the future. I don't think Casey was very impressed; she just nodded and moved a little closer to me.

Ignoring Casey, I turned to greet my old friend, who had finally fought her way through the crowd to Richard.

"Hi guys! Sorry, my flight was late…"

And thus began the long, repetitive dialogue of reunion. I felt guilty: Dana had been counting off the days since we left, dying for the moment she would be able to join us on our journey. I had sort of (read: completely) forgotten her as soon as we got to Kanto…

Then again, I had had a lot of other things on my plate like, oh, you know, avenging my brother's death and saving the country from destruction at the hands of a madman while trying to keep myself and my friends alive in one piece.

Regardless, she had been waiting for this day a long time, but now, didn't seem to know what to do.

Dana and Richard exchanged greetings and stories with the awkwardness of two old friends who had gone through puberty since last speaking, which was precisely the case. I, for the most part, stood back and waited my turn. When Dana and Richard gave each a final, obviously uncomfortable hug, he stood aside and I joined in.

Dana was still her old, scatterbrained self (this became clear as she realized that she'd left her luggage next to the door and broke the conversation to scramble over and fetch it) and still smiled a lot. She was shorter than she had been the last time I'd seen her; I realized shortly that this was impossible, that I had just grown taller, and smiled to myself. In truth, it was probably just because I had changed too much that she seemed so… stable.

After we had caught up, I noticed Casey standing quietly at the outskirts of our group and beckoned her in.

"Dana, this is Casey. She's a friend of ours"-I was careful to say both _friend_ and _ours_ so that Dana wouldn't be as confused about Casey's and my relationship as I was-"Casey, Dana. She's traveling with us."

"Nice to meet you," said Dana, bowing quickly in the traditional greeting. Casey nodded, arms akimbo. "I can't wait to get on the road! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Oh, _yes_," said Casey with an infinitesimal fraction of Dana's enthusiasm. "_So_ much fun."

Dana didn't catch it and kept chattering on excitedly about our upcoming adventure. Her excitement was contagious and Richard soon joined in. The talked in short, quick bursts of euphoric conversation all the way back to the hotel.

(-o-)

We explained to Dana that we only stayed in hotels now when we needed to freshen up before gym battles or other important events, unless someone else was buying. She had some money, but not a large amount, and we told her to save it. If we really needed to, we could battle other trainers and work up enough cash for a room, but my dad had given me enough money to buy a few nights stay in the upcoming towns.

After checking in (we got two adjoining rooms with two beds apiece; Casey, to her simmering anger, was sharing with Dana) we went out to get lunch. We found a cheap deli a few blocks away and sat in the sun, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon.

A few tables away from us, behind me, I could here two guys talking; they were loud and annoying, swore a lot, and seemed to be talking about Pokemon.

"So he sends out this little shit of a Pokemon, like a Sandshrew or something, and I'm like 'Is that the best you got?' and he's all, 'It's more than enough for you'. So I'm fucking pissed, right? And so Quill goes tearing across the field and knocks the shit out of his little shit Pokemon."

"Wicked, man."

Trying to blot out the sound of their conversation, I struck up one of my own.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow morning?"

"I've been looking over some maps," Casey began with a smile; she was back in familiar territory. "And I think we'll get to the first gym fastest if…"

"The first gym is in Violet City, right?" Cut in Dana without a second thought. I cringed. Casey began turning red with anger, but Dana continued. "I looked it up on my computer back at my house and _I_ think…"

Oh crap. I could already see what was going to happen. Casey wasn't just mad at being cut off: it was obvious that she felt like she was being bumped to the backburner now that Richard and I had an old friend around. And though I was trying to include Casey at every possible occasion, Richard was warming up to Dana already. He brought up old stories any time a memory struck him and I was usually dragged in as well, which sort of negated my positive pull on Casey. Casey… she was going to explode and plug poor, ignorant Dana full her shrapnel.

And as if that weren't bad enough, the guy's behind us were getting louder and louder with each time-bomb-ticking second.

"And when I was done with his Pokemon, I went after him too."

"Dude, you are such a badass!"

"Hey!" I shouted, pushing back my chair, jumping to my feet, turning around quick… two surprised looking guys stared back. They were a little older than me, dressed in clothes that were probably very expensive but looked ratty. I don't get fashion these days. The looked like rich, pretty-boy types. I could take them, easy. "Watch your mouths in public, seriously! It's offensive."

"I'll talk how I like where I like, bitch!" said one of them. It was the one who had been talking about his battles earlier.

"Yeah, man, Alex could kick your ass easy," said the other. This one was the one who had just sort of agreed with everything Alex, the big talker, said. It made me mad, how stupidly he followed along everything the first guy said; it was stupid.

I had to teach them a lesson, and if it stopped Casey from going berserk, well, that was good too.

I heard Richard get up to back me up, but I held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't worry man, I can handle these two losers myself. Come on Alex, we'll see who can kick who's ass."

True, I hadn't battled anyone since my fight with Rook at the Battle Tower, during the Pokemon League Challenge and that had been almost a month ago. But guy's like Alex are predictable, and I can handle that.

Plus, the nice guy always wins in the end, right?


	5. Chapter 4: All Fired Up

**Chapter 4: All Fired Up**

"Go, Quill!" barked the boy called Alex.

His pokeball flipped elegantly through the air and deposited an above-average sized Quilava on the field. It was about three and half feet tall, big for that type of Pokemon. Its contrasting dark-and-cream fur bristled in anticipation; fire blossomed like a cape from its shoulders; it hopped from two legs to four and back, waiting for me.

I knew fighting in the streets was illegal, but this was a slow part of town: there was no one around. Plus, sometimes you have to break the rules to get things done. This was one of those times.

Stepping out into the street to join Alex, there was only one thought on my mind: battle. Battling takes everything away, takes you mind off all your problems. Everything in the world seems to make more sense when I'm fighting, so a fight it would be. I already knew which Pokemon I would pick.

"This'll be too easy!" I called mockingly. "Let's go, Saturn!"

I tossed up my ball as well, and from the answering flare of light, a huge, pale green form thundered out and landed heavily in the street. My starter Pokemon, Saturn, my massive, loveable Venusaur. He had a slightly different coloration than that of most Venusaurs. His body was more green than blue, his leaves were darker, and his flower was thicker and bright orange. I guess he was a little small for a Venusaur too, but he was a knot of pure strength and power. He was my closest friend as far as Pokemon went, and I rarely lost when he fought by my side.

I was confident that Quilava wouldn't stand much of a chance, but hey, don't say I didn't warn him.

"You're not even going to honor me with a type disadvantage? You're the one who's making this too easy for me." Alex leaned back cockily, struck a pose and ordered, "Flame Wheel, Quill!"

Quilava pawed the ground then leapt forward. The fire on its back expanded, wrapped around it in a protective bubble, and Quill hit the ground rolling. It skidded and bounced toward my Pokemon with surprising speed, but I was ready. I'd faced tougher opponents…

Or so I though.

"Stop it with Skull Bash," I called.

Saturn smiled broadly, showing his huge, tombstone teeth, and lowered his head. Quilava didn't have enough time to change course, and it met Saturn head on. Their heads collided with a loud thud. Instantly, the fire from Quilava's wheel was dispersed; the fire Pokemon was hurled into the air by the force of the blow and Saturn eased back, only slightly burned by the residual heat.

Quilava twisted acrobatically through air like a flopping fish. It righted itself at the peak of its arc and glowered at its foe.

"Flamethrower!" shouted Alex.

Uh-oh. I had been relying on Skull Bash to daze Quilava for long enough that I could get in another attack. A direct hit from a Flamethrower would be catastrophic, to say the least.

Quilava, still airborne, inhaled sharply and released a jet of bright flame.

Saturn's eyes widened and he stepped back quickly. It wouldn't make the attack miss, but it would get him out of the direct blast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw…

"Saturn, Vine Whip on those tables!"

Picking up on my idea, Saturn extended two vines, too quick to see, and grabbed a metal table. The vines whiplashed back, hurling the tables at Quilava, right into the path of the flames. There was bright flash at the cast-iron tables and Flamethrower met…

…then the furniture clattered to the ground, white hot and smoldering. Quilava landed behind it, anger burning in its eyes and the eyes of its trainer.

The noise and light was attracting a crowd. Diners had come out of the restaurant to watch, and owner of the place was yelling at me angrily for destroying his table. People were leaning out of windows up and down the street, looking excitedly at the battle unfolding on their doorsteps. I heard a few cheers, and a few disgusted cries.

But mostly cheers. That was good.

(-o-)

"Shouldn't one of you help him?" asked Dana. She was hopping from foot to, watching Ian worriedly. "I mean, what if he gets in trouble…"

"Ian can handle himself," said Casey calmly. She was smiling her cool, confident smile. Dana shivered subconsciously; that grin was more than a little scary. "He's taken on tougher opponents… but I figured he'd pick a Pokemon with a type advantage to really clobber this guy. Then again, Saturn is, hands down, Ian's toughest Pokemon. I wouldn't worry if I were you: Ian's got this completely under control."

Dana stopped hopping and looked at Casey. Then she looked back at Ian. He definitely had changed a lot.

"That bit with the table was nice, wasn't it Richard?" Casey asked as Quilava and Venusaur smashed into each other again and again with quick, glancing moves. Richard was stooping exaggeratedly with a scowl on his face. He watched the battle, his brow creased with frustration. Concerned, Casey asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I should be the one fighting this jerk!" wailed Richard. A vine caught Quilava in the stomach; it coughed, releasing a weak burst of embers and smoke, then fell to the ground, barely managing to stay on its feet. "How come Ian gets to have all the fun?"

(-o-)

Quilava stalked cautiously back, eyeing Saturn. Alex was going berserk, screaming at his Pokemon about how weak and worthless it was. It made me sick. Time to end this.

"Let's finish this, Saturn: Energy Ball!"

A green sphere of light appeared at Saturn's lips. With a roar, he fired it at Quilava. The fire Pokemon was too spent to move and crumbled to one knee. I lost sight of it in the glow.

Suddenly, the Energy Ball rebounded. It flew back as if it had bounced off a wall and slammed into Saturn's head. He groaned loudly and stumbled back. What the hell?

I looked across the field to see that a second Pokemon had joined Quilava, an Electrode. The ball Pokemon grinned mockingly. At the moment, it was shimmering metallically, but this effect, which I realized must have been a Mirror Coat attack, was fading slowly back to the Pokemon's usual red-and-white tones.

"Two against one?" shouted Richard. "That's cheating! I'm coming in, Ian."

"It's alright," I called without looking back. "I can handle it, don't worry."

I thought about dispatching a second Pokemon to help Saturn out, but that just didn't seem right. In a way, it would be giving in to my opponent's cheating. I was going to beat them fair and square with my own, single Pokemon.

Before I could complete this train of thought, a Thunderbolt ripped down the street; voltage coursed through Saturn, lighting him up like a bulb and leaving him charred. My Pokemon was hurt more seriously now. For the first time, the battle was starting to worry me.

"Give 'em a Vine Whip!" I ordered.

Shaking off the electrical attack, my Venusaur extended four slender vines and lashed at his opponents. Electrode spun quickly out of the way, but Quilava was glanced by a vine as it attempted to flee; it tripped and skidded across the pavement, making its trainer go wild with insults.

Electrode bounced off the ground like a basketball, sparks dancing across its body, and tried to tackle Saturn. My Pokemon reeled in his vines and raised them just in time to stop his opponent's Spark, but fell into a trap: the instant he had Electrode in his grip, the electric Pokemon released another Thunderbolt, which traveled quickly down the vines and caused even more damage.

Weakened by the attack, Saturn's grip slackened and Electrode bounced free.

It looked like Alex's buddy was a lot better of a battler than he was; I wondered if Alex only won because he had someone backing him up.

"Screech!" ordered Electrode's trainer. The Pokemon obliged, opening its huge mouth and letting out an awful, high-pitched, nerve-grating noise.

Saturn flinched, scrunching up his eyes and trying in vain to shut out the sound. The trainer called out again and Electrode's body lit up with Sparks. The Screeching ceased, and before Saturn could gather his wits, the electric Pokemon was barreling toward him…

"Ian, you need a defensive move!" called Casey. "Try getting Saturn to use Synthesis."

Synthesis? That was a move I hadn't heard of before… then again, there would be time to worry about that later. I needed a trump card, and though I didn't know exactly what that card was, it was better than nothing.

"Saturn, can you use Synthesis?"

With a grunt, Saturn fired several vines quickly into the ground. Instantly, beads of green light began flowing up the vines, like water. I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, that the leaves on several trees up and down the street were going orange… was Saturn absorbing their energy?

Then, Electrode's attack connected. The ball Pokemon ran headlong into Saturn's skull, but my Pokemon wasn't knocked back or even obviously hurt like I had expected. He held his ground, pushing back on his foe; his vines were glowing now, and the trees began to wither. So that was what Synthesis did.

Reenergized, Saturn was holding the charging Pokemon at bay. Electrode was still rolling in place, trying and failing to make headway; a few stray sparks stung Saturn's skin, but he wasn't really bothered by them. Perfect. Time to move.

"Skull Bash!"

Roaring in agreement, Saturn plowed forward. Electrode was shoved across the street, where it slammed into a brick wall. The electric Pokemon spun weekly, teetering around like a top. Its eyes were blank and its tongue lolled out. It was totally dazed.

"Finish it off with one more Energy Ball!"

There was a final green pulse of light and Electrode lay still. It rolled quietly back to the feet of its stunned trainer and vanished with a burst of red into its ball.

"See?" I called to my friends, who were still behind me. "Told you I could handle…"

"Ian, look out!"

I glanced at my opponents. In all the commotion with Electrode, I had forgotten about Quill. The Quilava stood on its hind legs at Alex's feet. I had had plenty of time to recover and looked ready to retaliate.

I glanced at my charred, shocked Venusaur and swallowed. Synthesis had revitalized him, but now he'd used up most of his energy finishing off Electrode. Saturn was spent. Oh damn.

"Fire Blast!" called Alex, laughing in giddy madness at the turn of events. He looked like an insane little kid. It was not a good look for him, I decided.

With a whoosh, Quill's flames returned. More fire gathered at his mouth, billowed out to either side in a crescent smile.

There was a roar and a crash.

Richard's Charizard had appeared on the field and Quilava had mysteriously vanished. After a few moments (during which Alex and his friend stared at the fire Pokemon, eyes wide, mouths gaping) there was a weak little chirp and Charizard stepped back, revealing the twitching, fainted remains of Quilava, which had been under his feet. The lizard Pokemon smiled and shrugged in mock apology.

Thirty seconds later, Alex and his friend were sprinting away from us as fast as they could go. Charizard waved after them and spit a little fire at their heels, just to make sure they got the message.

I turned back to Richard.

"I had it under control," I assured him. "I could have handled it without Charizard."

"I know," said Richard, returning his Pokemon. "I just wanted to have a little fun too."

"Thanks for the coaching Casey. It helped a lot… not that I needed it." This time I smiled sheepishly, because in truth, Casey's suggestion had saved our butts.

"My pleasure." She stroked some of her copper hair out of her eyes and pulled her trademark messenger cap back on.

Finally, I looked at Dana, who was standing, shocked and awed, where our table had been a few minutes ago (you know, the table that was now smoldering in the street). Her faced twitched slightly.

"That. Was. Awesome!" her face exploded into a grin and she jumped into the air, pumping up her fist.

"Welcome to life as a trainer," I said, smiling back. "You get used to it."

"MY CAFÉ!" screamed a voice behind me. I turned once more, this time more slowly than before… the restaurant's owner knelt, shaking in fury, by the charred remains of his cast-iron table. "YOU RUINED IT!"

He looked up at me, fire in his round eyes, on his round head. I sighed. There was no way around it.

"Sir, we don't have much money, but I can give you what we have to pay for the damages."

There, as he was eager to point out, several more damages done to his property: a few stray fireballs had hit the walls and window, leaving behind black skid-mark-like burns. Also, one of the tables had been electrocuted and now several chairs clung to it, magnetized.

"And I guess I could stay and wash dishes or something to make up the extra."

I thought the victor got the spoils: for the moment, though, the only thing in future was spoiled food.


	6. Chapter 5: Eyes Open

**Chapter 5: Eyes Open**

Tori surveyed the land she defended.

She was perched like a tiny black and white bird on the top floor of her tower. A few miles to the north, Spear Peak rose like a pedestal supporting a bust of clouds. It was massive, majestic… but Tori found the Coronet Mountains more than a little overrated. She was looking east; the gross altitude of the mountain and tower below her let her see all the way to the sea.

With a prim, emotionless sigh, Tori turned and flowed down the spiral stairs, toward the base of her tower.

She was wearing a ridiculous dress, all flowering tiers of black and white. This, combined with her pale skin and jet hair, gave her the appearance of a classic-TV star that had stepped out into the world. The only color on her face was the blue irises of her large eyes. They quivered like pools of ice water as Tori coolly –no, coldly- calculated everything. She counted the number of steps as she descended. 210, just like last time.

Of course, there had once been a mansion reserved as a residence for the Champion of Sinnoh, but it had become rather run down since Cynthia had left it to go traveling several years before. After she defeated the old Champion, Tori wanted a more modern, fitting abode. And so she built the tower. It rose like a pure white stalactite from a Y between two mountains in the Coronet range. Beneath, carved from the living rock, were several larger, more functional rooms. It was to these rooms that Tori now descended.

It was time to see off her handmaiden.

Though she had original planned to achieve ultimate fame and power single-handedly, Tori had since decided that she would require at least a little help. But she would have no army, like Rook: all she needed were a few messengers.

She surveyed the three young women she had chosen carefully. They stood in a line, all at attention.

They were almost identical, all tall, dark, commanding girls. They were dressed in matching white travel gear. They were clearly ready to go… somewhere.

"Reports," demanded Tori as she passed. She didn't look back at any of them, and instead turned her gaze to a bank of computers set into one wall.

The three women broke formation. One came to stand on either side of Tori and run the computers for her. The third retreated to the back of the room and began making a final round of checks on the heavy backpack and various other supplies which she had prepared.

There was a blast of arctic light as the computers sixteen screens fired up. Tori smiled, basked in their warmth-less radiance.

"Operation Eyes Open is on the brink of being completed," said the woman on Tori's left. She went by the name Beta. "All of the Storm Class Pokemon are in position in Hoen. We are ready to begin observation as soon as you give the command."

"Excellent," said Tori.

"Also, the examination of the Legendary Birds has been completed," said the other woman, who was called Alfa. "All three of the birds were pregnant with eggs at the time of their abduction by the Storm's Eye. Unfortunately, adverse affects of the nanobot surgeries and the fights that the Storm forced them into have damaged the eggs in Zapdos and Moltres. We have performed ultrasounds on them and confirmed that their eggs will be stillborn, which means that Zapdos and Moltres will live another decade until they can lay a new egg."

"And Articuno?"

"Articuno presents… a unique opportunity. In a few months, it will lay an egg that will hatch into a new Articuno. Accordingly, the current Articuno will, once it has laid the egg, live only until its baby can fend for itself. As soon as the infant learns to fly, which will take about a month, the mother will die."

"That give us a one month window of opportunity to pursue the required items," said Tori.

She had been doing lots of research lately, as to what she could do with her newfound power over the Legendary Birds. In her investigation, she had uncovered a legend of something… much greater. A chance had presented itself, a door had opened, and Tori had ever intention of doing whatever it took to go through to the other side.

"What about you, Gamma?" she asked.

"I am, as we speak, making the final preparations to depart for Orre where I can acquire the necessary resources for Operation Diamond," said Gamma. The girl straightened up, dawned her pack and walked briskly back across the room to her companions and employer.

"I take it you have chosen the Pokemon you will travel with?"

"Yes, my lady."

Gamma clicked her tongue twice; from the next room, a small pink creature scampered along the floor. It had a tail almost as large as its body, which seemed to have spindly little fingers protruding from it. Pointed pink ears and small, almost-as-pointed cream colored feet… with a squeal the Skitty bounded up and landed gracefully on Gamma's shoulder. The girl smiled and looked to her boss for approval.

Tori nodded approvingly.

"An interesting choice. I think Skitty will prove useful to you." Tori bowed slightly, her dress gathered slack around her feet. "I wish you the best of luck. Don't disappoint me."

"I won't, my lady," said Gamma, but the smile left her face. Tori was still smirking like a princess.

Without a word, a section of the rock wall shook and trundled away into the floor. behind it was a massive steel door, which was cold to the touch.

"Goodbye Gamma. You will do well." It was more of an order than a statement of confidence.

Gamma swallowed and started toward the door. As she neared it, it opened of its own accord. It swung down from hinges at its base, became a platform open out to…

The side of the mountain. The ground plummeted away from the threshold, curved down to the ground concavely like a demented slide. The sky was clear, but snow flurries whipped around the door, carrying tiny shards of ice that stung like teeth on Gamma's skin. She stood on the edge, on the metal platform of the door. She stepped forward, off the edge.

And was gone.

A few seconds later, Tori strode over to the door and looked out at the mountains. In the distance, she could see Gamma's silhouette atop a soaring Skarmory. It flew on until it was just a tiny sliver of silver in the sky, indistinguishable from a passing snowflake. Gamma had vanished into the eastern sky. After a moment, Tori turned back to the bank of computers. The door closed behind her. She was still smiling.

"Let's bring them online," said Tori after a moment's consideration. "Begin Operation Eyes Open."

"Yes, my lady," said Alpha, sounding almost exactly like Gamma had earlier.

Alpha reached down and flipped up a little slate-gray nub of a switch.

The pale blue of the screens flickered and one by one, images replaced the aqua glow. Brief snatches of landscapes flickered on each monitor, then were replaced by new ones. The cycle began.

Tori watched, giddier than she would have ever let on. _Perfect,_ she thought, _so perfect._

One image passed: a passing sea with brief glimpses of white clothing and metal wings around the edges. Gamma's Skitty.

Others focused on gyms, on islands, on unaware people…

"Yes," said Tori. "This will do nicely."

(-o-)

In the irrelevant building, the Man watched the Computer make its move. It had been almost twenty four hours since the first move of the game had been made; it was currently the second move for the machine. It was a slow game, and would get even slower. Both of the Computer's initial moves had been stalls; it seemed the world was waiting, waiting for someone to start the game in truth.

The man leaned back in his chair and gazed around the room. Everywhere, screens flickered. Music and conversation blared. One square region of the walls, which the computer had kept dark thus far, turned on with an electronic buzz. Suddenly, jerky, sometimes sepia images appeared. The pictures swung and shook often; after all, they were taken with organic cameras.

"Ah," said the Man. His voice was like smoothed wood, even and strong. That voice could support a house, or break a limb, or burn, burn the world down. It probably wouldn't splinter like wood, however. "More eyes. What a pleasure."

He watched the images his Computer stole from Tori LeTour and considered his next move.


	7. Chapter 6: on Route 36

**Chapter 6: On Route 36**

Well, they didn't exactly run us out of Golden City, but from the look on the face of that café owner, I figured we wouldn't be welcome there much longer. We left as soon as the sun was up, durable trainer gear on and ready to roll (and that's only partially a figure of speech, as you will soon find out).

The first order of business was to travel to Violet City to compete in the first gym. Since there were four of us that would be challenging the gym, I figured we would be there for a while, so we would need a place to stay. Ergo, we needed money.

And we managed to get… some. Battling trainers doesn't get you much, and it's not always reliable because you never know if the kid you're fighting will pay up or not, but we got a sizable sum. Of course, all of this vanished instantly when we arrived at the Johto National Park, just north of Goldenrod. Richard was smitten at once and crashed in to take first prize in the next Bug Catching Contest. He proudly left with his prize, an eccentric Yanma, and informed us that he had used all the money we had made to enter the contest in the first place. After several minutes and two beatings, we turned west onto Route 36 and continued toward Violet City. That night, we camped in the woods and ate the last of our rationed food (we lacked the money to buy more). Dana looked concerned, but we experienced trainers knew that we would be back in lap of luxury soon enough.

Speaking of Yanma, Richard and Casey were both making adjustments to their teams. Upon arriving in Johto, Richard had returned all of his Pokemon except for Charizard, Kingler, and Electivire. Casey's team consisted of Crockanaw, Pikachu, and Ursaring; also, she had gotten her Pigeot back from Professor Beech, who hadn't exactly been thrilled to hear from his foster daughter.

"You didn't even call when you went out on your little vendetta quest! If anyone had found out about that, do you realize what would have happened to my career? Do you?"

"Look, just give me Pigeot back and you won't have to worry about me again for a while, ok?"

She had taken the Pokemon, turned off the video-chat, and pointedly not looked at the PC again.

I was perfectly happy with my team. To me, it was pointless to put up the Pokemon you've already bonded with just to start over with new ones.

The next day, we continued east. The sun was bright, the sky a perfect clear blue, and a few puffy clouds drifted quickly by overhead. A few trainers had passed us on bicycles just after dawn, but had declined a match. Seeing them reminded me of the bicycles Richard and I had once had. There was a pang of jealousy in my stomach. Well, if we got enough money…

But at the moment, that was a long way away.

Dana was skipping happily, way ahead of the rest of us, apparently oblivious to anything that might possibly be negative in the world.

To our left, a heavily forested mountain sloped down toward us. On the right, it rolled away into a valley. It was beautiful countryside, as Casey was all too happy to point out, and a gorgeous day. Casey seemed to have lightened up since the day before. She had accepted that, one way or another, Dana would be traveling with us for a while, and as long as she didn't have to deal with Dana directly, things would be fine between them.

Well, so much for that plan.

Suddenly, a rumbling, clattering noise filled the forest… something big and dark was moving downhill from above us.

"Look out below!" the last syllable was stretched out into a deep, hysterical laugh.

The foliage on the hillside exploded and a procession of dark, tire-like shapes blasted out. Leaves and shattered wood flew everywhere as the wheels bounced across the road. My eyes subconsciously traced their path… oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

"Dana, move!" I called.

Instantly Saturn was beside me and vines were reaching out to pull Dana to safety, but I was too late.

She had turned and seen the rushing wheel shapes, but didn't have nearly enough time to move. Her Snubbull, Chowchow, was growling threateningly from her shoulder, and though he jumped into the path of the first object, it was clear that he didn't stand a ghost of a chance. Chowchow went flying with a loud concussion, and his trainer followed immediately. The two vanished into the trees, tumbling down into the shade.

Saturn's vines seized empty air. The whole ordeal took about four seconds.

But where had that voice come from?

Uphill, the forest shook a final time, and one more wheel burst out. It was at least twice as big as the previous ones, and scrambling to balance on its treads was a hefty man with a thick red beard and plaid shirt. He looked like a friendly mountaineer, but the infuriating grin of a thief glinted from under his facial hair.

"Follow me if you want to save you friend!" he bellowed before vanishing into the flora on ther side of the road.

And then, nothing.

"What just happened?" asked Richard, dumbstruck.

"No idea," I said. I returned Saturn and replaced him with a smaller, more agile Pokemon. Frankly, I wasn't sure my Venusaur could fit between the trees. I decided on Combusken and summoned her deftly. Since my fight with Rook (and Combusken's encounter with my brother's old Dragonite), she had been the picture of obedience. Combusken followed my instruction to the letter… unless she constructed a more effective plan on her own. "But we've got to get down there, fast."

With a duo of crimson flashes, Electivire and Crockanaw were by my Pokemon's side. Together, we charged into the forest after Dana.

(-o-)

Dana landed (and almost bounced) on the springy mulch of the forest floor. The mud she landed in exploded on impact; her clothes were thoroughly spattered. Dana rolled through the loamy mix of rotting wood, soil, and leaves, coming to a stop at the root of a massive tree.

She stayed still, shocked, until her brain unfroze enough to tell her to move. As she climbed unsteadily to her feet, Dana was sure of three things. One: that something had knocked her off the road and that her entire body felt like one big bruise as a result. Two: that Chowchow had been thrown somewhere nearby, but she did not know where. Three: that being a trainer had suddenly become a lot scarier and a lot less fun.

As Dana reached her feet, she heard a series of deep grunts, and thuds like a rubber ball bouncing on concrete. She looked up the slope and saw what had sent her flying.

Bounding toward her through the trees were five tire-shaped things. Three were dark gray and two or three feet thick. The other two were smaller and blue-gray with bright red plates around their circumferences. Like a circus act, the five wheels bounced off of the surrounding terrain –the ground, trees, _each other_- around Dana before coming to a stop in a rough ring. Each wheel rested, turned as if to roll toward her, and then… unfolded.

Standing around her were three Donphan and two Phanpy. The various elephant Pokemon watched her, not with anger, but with the determined curiosity of a predator watching its prey.

Dana turned, watching her captors. Fear tightened its grip on her lungs, making it harder to breath. Slowly, she reached for her second pokeball, which held Treecko…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, miss," said a deep, earthy voice from uphill. Dana followed the voice and saw, descending toward her, a robust man dressed like a lumberjack treading backwards on top of an abnormally large Donphan.

The Pokemon and its rider came to a stop on top of a fallen tree a few yards away. The lumberjack hopped to the ground and his Pokemon uncurled beside him. It was about twice as big as he was, and the man wasn't by any standard small.

"Afternoon, little lady," he said gruffly. "Having a lovely day, I trust?"

"What do you want?" Dana demanded, backing up. She remembered the Donphan behind her, reconsidered, and froze on the spot. Then, an idea. "Look, I'm a strong trainer. Return your Pokemon and I'll save you the humiliation of defeat!"

Ian would have liked that, she thought. It was a good bluff, and Dana thought she puffed herself up to make it look convincing.

"Judging from the way your little Snubbull flew into the horizon, I'd say you're a starting trainer –at best. And with you as my hostage, I can collect all the cash your friends are carrying…"

"But we're completely broke!" protested Dana.

The hefty man paused, scratched his whiskers, considering this possibility.

"You're probably just pulling my leg again," he decided after a moment. "Just stay where you are. If your friends care about you, they'll be along shortly."

Dana swallowed and tried to make herself as small as possible.

(-o-)

"Dana!" I called. "Where are you? If you can, shout!"

"Down here!" came a muffled cry from the thick foliage below.

"Let's go!" said Richard, skidding down through the trees toward Dana's voice. Electivire screeched in agreement and jumped after his trainer.

"Whoa, boy," called Casey. She grabbed Richard's shirt collar and he almost fell over. Crockanaw caught hold of Electivire's tail and jerked him to the ground similarly. Casey and her Pokemon assumed the same akimbo stance, eyes closed, mouth half-open and poised to lecture. "We have no idea what we're up against, and jumping into the battle like that could be suicide. From the look of it, that trainer was some sort of highwayman using the steep hill and his Donphan to attack trainers."

"Donphan?" I asked. I had had the holographic trading card of the elephant Pokemon as a kid. It had been one of my favorites then, but I hadn't yet encountered the Pokemon in the wild.

"Yeah, that's right. Ian and I should be fine with the Pokemon we've picked, but Electivire's not going to stand a chance. You should swap Pokemon, Richard."

"No way," he said, shaking his head stubbornly. "I don't care about type advantages. Electivire is stronger than anything this guy can throw at us: he'll be fine."

Electivire struck a confident pose as well to show he agreed. Electivire was practically obsessed with Richard: it would have followed him anywhere, no matter what the odds.

Casey sighed indignantly.

"Alright then, I guess Ian and I will have to handle most of this by ourselves," said Casey. She started walking purposefully down the hill, stepping easily around the trees despite the steep decline. "They say that it's easier to fight from the high ground so let's stay uphill of him. It'll be what he expects, but it's the only _logical_ plan we've got. Let's go boys, we've got a newbie to save."

I wondered why Casey had suddenly taken such initiative to rescue Dana. It was strange… but still, I was glad she was doing it. Maybe she had finally warmed up to Dana, and maybe it was just a protective instinct. Whichever, it didn't matter. Getting poor Dana to safety was the important thing.


	8. Chapter 7: Heat Wave

**Chapter 7: Heat Wave**

We went for an ambush approach. It went sort of like this:

The foremost of the Donphan had its back to us. It, along with its brethren, was far more concerned with hemming Dana in and keeping her in a panic. It didn't see anything coming at all…

"Iron Tail!"

There was a blue blur and Crockanaw smashed into the ground behind the Donphan, its tail reflecting the weak light that filtered through the canopy above. Before the elephant Pokemon could do anything more than look surprised, it was sent sprawling. It landed on its side, near Dana. The girl screamed and jumped back, only to realize what was happening. The cavalry had arrived.

The highwayman glanced up at us. He was off to the right, standing with a massive Donphan on a log overlooking his captive. He saw us coming, and called his Pokemon to the ready. The two Phanpy, remained behind to shepherd Dana.

I took one look at the guy and decided I wanted to fight him. I looked at Casey to convey my interest and she nodded. She and Richard leapt down the slope toward Dana, their Pokemon sliding ahead. The Donphan collected themselves and gathered to stop my friends.

I turned back to the highwayman. He looked, to all intents and purposes, like a stereotypical lumberjack. He was ever wearing a bright orange knit cap, despite the muggy warmth of the woods. He turned gracefully, like a dancer on toe-point, to face me; his colossal Donphan lumbered around as well.

"Look, lad," he called to me. "We don't need any trouble. I'd prefer to do this without hurting your Pokemon. You look like a smart boy. Why don't you just hand over your money, make this easier on all of you?"

"We don't have any money," I said. I nodded at Combusken. With a happy caw, she jumped forward, rushed the giant Donphan with Quick Attack. My Pokemon glanced off the its rubbery armor and was bumped aside. She leapt quickly back to perch on a tree branch. "What do you want with us?"

"No money?" yelped the man, obviously crestfallen. "Seriously? How are a bunch of richy-rich kids like you _broke_?"

"Long story," I said. Then, "And we're not rich kids. Ember!"

Fat fireballs hailed down on Donphan, but it just shook the attack off. The fire dissipated the instant it touched Donphan's hide. The ground Pokemon grunted and, without consulting its trainer, charged the tree that Combusken was perched on. The wood splinted instantly and collapsed. It crashed to the ground, carrying a stunned Combusken along for the ride.

"Well, even if you have no money, _everyone _has _something_ worth taking." The man turned and called to all his Pokemon at once. "Donphan, Pinball Formation! Phanpy, keep an eye on the girl."

With a series of pachyderm wails, the Donphan curled into their wheel forms and began rolling uphill toward Casey and Richard. Crockanaw was ready: at Casey's command, it inhaled deeply and fired out a jet of Bubbles. The three Donphan compressed briefly, then sprang into the air to ricochet through the trees, high above Casey's attack. Suddenly, two collided in mid air directly above Crockanaw. One Donphan was bounced up, the other down…

…And Stomped heavily on Crockanaw's head. The water Pokemon was dazed, and reeled back, but the attack wasn't done: remember the Donphan that went up? Well, everything that goes up must come down. The second Stomp caught Crockanaw in the stomach and smashed it heavily into the ground.

In the mean time, the third Donfan had landed in front of Electivire and was trying to gore him. Richard's Pokemon had a strong grip on his foe's tusks, but their strengths were basically identical, and Electivire couldn't weaken his opponent with electricity.

As for me…

Combusken jumped from the downed tree beak blazing. She loosed a long stream of fire into Donphan's face, but again the attack was ineffective. The colossal Donphan walked right through the blaze and lashed out at my Pokemon with its trunk. It caught Combusken's wrist (she had gotten a little too close in her eagerness to do damage) and flung her into a tree. Combusken's Flamethrower ceased and she coughed a wisp of unhealthy-looking smoke. Before she could move, Donphan rushed her once more with surprising speed. Its Take Down flattened the tree with Combusken still squished against the front. The whole thing toppled… this wasn't going well.

"Kid, you should have just given up," said the highwayman. His Donphan back uped, raised its trunk to the sky and trumpeted loudly.

"You wish!" called Casey from behind me. "Surf!"

Crockanaw jerked its arms into the air; the soil around its feet bubbled, and water surged up to meet its hands. With another gesture, like that of a maestro commanding a symphony, it sent the wave rolling down the hill. The Donphan turned, tried to roll away, but weren't fast enough. Water washed over them, rolled them around and slammed them into trees. When the tsunami subsided, two of the elephant Pokemon were knocked out. The third still grappled with Electivire, at least, it did until Crockanaw walked up, grabbed it in its jaws, and flung it down hill to join its incapacitated comrades.

I considered some strategies for my own battle as Combusken struggled back up… Donphan's armor stopped her flames from doing any damage, but if she could heat Donphan up enough, its core would be cooked and it would be too weak to fight back. The only problem was getting enough fuel… what was I saying? I was in a forest full of fuel!

"Combusken, get up and use Quick Attack! Get around Donphan!"

One second and one yellow-and-red blur later, Combusken was at my side. She was battered, but she still plenty some fight in her. We'd been through worse than this before. Donphan turned slowly to face us. It pawed the ground, preparing to charge…

"Wait for it," I said. "Wait."

With a wail, Donphan rushed us. I dove to one side, but Combusken staid put, just as I'd ordered. Then, at the last possible second, just before Donfan's tusks lanced through my Pokemon…

"Jump straight up!"

We were in a forest, she was bound to connect with something.

Combusken leapt vertically and caught hold of a low branch; Donphan passed narrowly below her and crashed directly into the tree trunk behind me.

"Now, Slash the tree!" I called.

Combusken lashed out with her cruel claws. There was a pause, the forest seemed to suddenly hush. What's that old aphorism about trees falling in forests? It seemed for a second that this one would not make a sound… no, there it was.

There was a horrible creak like a thousand rotting floorboards stepped on at once and magnified hundredfold. This was followed by a crack which I can only compare to the sound of popping knuckles. Or a popped spine. Finally, the climax: with a rush of leaves, twigs, and raw noise, the tree fell squarely on top of Donphan. The elephant Pokemon wailed weakly as the trunk broke over its round back. It was almost flattened by that blow, but Donphan's strength was far from broken.

We had to do something about that.

"Finish it! Flamethrower now!"

Combusken finally connected the dots. As rays of heavenly light illuminated my plan in her mind, Combusken filled her chest with cool air and expelled it, red hot, in a spear of light that impaled the tree, the ground, and anything unfortunate enough to be trapped I the middle. I. e., Donphan.

The felled tree went up at once, and soon the ground was blazing like an oven. Over the roar of the flames, I could barely hear the highwayman hollering in surprise. Behind me, there were other noises. A chime, a caw, wing beats. I turned my attention back to our opponent.

Donphan was struggling up, obviously injured. Char and combusting arbor tumbled off it like rain. Its defenses had been undermined (and set on fire, for that matter) but Donphan was as a strong a Pokemon as mine. Neither of us was giving up without a fight…

I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced back. Richard was behind me, backed by his Charizard. Casey and Dana had already flown off. Now they were just waiting on me.

"Give it one more," I ordered Combusken. "And then let's get out of here. We're done."

Donfan had struggled to its feet and managed to crawl out of the conflagration. It roared in vain fury and lowered its head, as if it had the energy to charge one more time. I guessed that it didn't and gestured to Combusken. She leapt forth, landed in front of the elephant Pokemon, and gave him a heavy head-butt. Donfan trumpeted, adding to the cacophony of the fire and screaming robber, and collapsed.

With a flash of red, Combusken was safe, back in her ball. Seconds later, Richard and I were soaring off into the sky, following the tan silhouette of Casey's Pigeot. The stunned highwayman cradled his injured Pokemon and wailed at the sky.

I almost felt bad for him: after all, times were tough. The world was still in the throws of a metaphorical seizure due to the near-miss-apocalypse over Viridian City. People were still recovering from the shock, and many were just barely scraping by… but this guy went about righting this the wrong way. No matter what your reasons, breaking the law is still breaking the law. And though I'm no policeman, as a trainer, it was my duty to impede his wrongdoings, wasn't it?

It was a bigger question than I could answer then, so I waited and listened to the whistling of the wind over Charizard's wings.

(-o-)

When Casey, flying a few hundred yards ahead of us, signaled that she was going land, I noticed that Dana's body was completely rigid. Her arms were bent like steel pipes around Casey's and Pigeot's necks. Curious as to what was going on, Richard and I followed them to the ground.

We were a few miles further east. Route 36 still expanded like a jet ribbon in either direction. Pigeot touched down with in a flurry of feathers. Charizard swooped up elegantly and thudded down (not so elegantly) behind it.

Dana stumbled onto the hard blacktop and fell to her knees. She was still in shock from her traumatic experience… her adventure was already shaping up to parallel mine in hardships: being kidnapped on your second day out can't have been much fun. But there seemed to be something _more_ wrong with her, if that was possible. Surprise and anxiety weren't the only things swimming in her wide eyes. There was something else swimming with these other emotions, and it dwarfed them; it was a whale, vastly huge compared to tiny fish.

I looked at Casey, but she only shrugged. Matters of the heart weren't her strong suit, in our confusing pseudo-relationship didn't tip you off to that fact.

"Are you ok?" Casey asked halfheartedly. I guess now that Dana was safe, her protective instinct had died down. I was starting to think that when she charged after Dana, Casey was just surrendering to her trigger-happy tendencies.

"Of course she's not!" I said, rushing over to Dana's side. I helped the poor girl to her feet.

As soon as she was standing, I noticed something… actually, the lack of something.

"Oh, God," I whispered. "Where's Chowchow?"

(-o-)

The sun was going down, but the forest had already been dark for a few hours. The only difference was that now the little pockets of sky that could be seen through the canopy were fiery peach instead of baby blue.

In the valley in the lee of Route 66, Chowchow struggled to his feet. He shook the mud out of his usually clean, pink fur and looked around. This wasn't right: the last thing he remembered was jumping of Dana's back to teach that arrogant whippersnapper of a Donphan what was what, and then…

And then Chow didn't remember too much.

But of a few things he was certain: first off, his girl was gone. Or he was gone from his girl. Whichever, it did not matter. Second, while her Treecko's heart was in the right place, he was still only a new recruit, not even worthy of the title _cadet_ yet. Treecko wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance if any real peril reared its ugly head (though Chowchow cringed as part of his less-prideful subconscious told him that danger had, in fact, _had_ reared its ugly head and that even _he_ hadn't been able to stop it). Finally, Chowchow knew, above all else, that he would track like a demon bloodhound until he found Dana and made sure that she was safe.

Chowchow grunted and licked his sagging lips. He inhaled deeply, expanding his nostrils so that they sucked at the air like vacuum pumps… there were faint traces of Dana's scent in the forest all around him. Tendrils of her fragrance snaked through the atmosphere like clouds made of bright fire. Chow's olfactory gland carefully labeled and sorted the scents into two categories: Dana and Not Dana.

Dana's smell (or smells, actually, as her gross scent was a combination of many others: the soft shampoo in her hair, the slightly muggy scent of the wool in her cap, the distinct artificial smell of her nylon pants, the combined leather and sweat smell of her shoes) seemed to be drifting down on the gentle air currents from somewhere uphill. Chowchow could follow it as easily as if Dana herself were beckoning him on.

Chowchow lowered his head determinedly and charged up the hill, keeping the aroma perpetually locked in his single-track (FIND DANA) mind.


	9. Chapter 8: Death Row

**Chapter 8: Death Row**

Iron Island, once a renowned breeding ground for intimidating Pokemon, had undergone a massive change in the past ten years. A huge prism of tan metal now rested heavily on its cascading stone crags; the structure was marked with hundreds of barred windows, like tally-marks counting toward infinity. Guards, astride a menagerie of avians, circled in the sky above. A troupe of psychic Pokemon kept watch from within, glimpsing a short temporal distance into the future or keeping their inner eyes peeled for the auras of intruders and inmates.

Until recently, many had scoffed at the massive scale of the security on Iron Island. Then, there had only been potentially genocidal maniacs, poachers, serial killers, and rapists… Of course, now that John Rook was incarcerated there, it all made sense. He was quite possibly the most dangerous criminal in the world, so insane (or perhaps enlightened) that even the other inmates were afraid of what he could do…

If he ever got out of bed.

Putting John Rook on Iron Island had seemed necessary. It had given justification to the ridiculous precautions, to putting a prison on that forsaken rock in the first place! But now that he was there, behind bars, Rook's persecutors were perplexed: the mastermind of the Storm's Eye, the Man Who Held the World Hostage, was sleeping his days away.

Rook lay in his cell, rarely bothering with meals. By the time the food had begun to go sour, his confounded warden would enter and remove the tray.

"So that's it?" he asked Rook once. "You just gonna sit there and wait for them to shoot you up?"

"I don't see why not," said John Rook. "What else can I do?"

"You could fucking try to escape," was the response. "Seriously, it's just depressing. Even the bastards in here that _aren't _insane do something. They scheme, they swear, they try and make weapons. Sometimes, they make it out of their cells, but no one's ever made it out of the building. But you… you're the only reason the general public even knows this place exists. You put us on the map, and in a week, you'll be gone. Without a fight."

"Yes. I will."

The warden had sighed with equal parts disgust and confusion and turned toward the door, platters of congealing pork and beans in his hands.

As he left, Rook added absentmindedly.

"They try to escape, but I am not like them… I am so much more. You'll miss me, won't you?"

The warden swallowed with fear and doubled his pace.

(-o-)

Me again.

We woke and packed quickly the next morning.

Casey, Richard and I kept watch at three-hour intervals while Dana slept fitfully. I managed to squeeze a few hours in, but I had the middle shift, and I couldn't get back to sleep after my turn as sentinel, so I stayed up with Richard until the sun rose.

We let Dana lie as we rolled up our sleeping bags and set about preparing breakfast from our meager stocks. We would be out of food by sundown, and Violet City was still a good two-day hike away. If worst came to worst we could fly in on Pigeot and Charizard, but I still have a general distrust of flying long distance, and Dana was so new to it all…

And if we traveled by air, there would be no chance of finding Chowchow again.

Poor Dana: without her pink canine companion, she seemed incomplete. That Pokemon had lurked around her house in Fortree since I was old enough to toddle over for a visit, probably longer. True, I had never really gotten along with it (it tried to ingest my hand, EVERY time I tried to pet it; ever), but Chowchow meant so much to Dana… I was already scheming mentally on a way to track the little Pokemon down. I could send Calypsa, my Vaporeon, out to scent him down but I had never attempted anything like that before and couldn't guarantee its success. Sighting from the air was useless –Chowchow would no doubt be under the forest canopy, invisible.

Snubbull are legendary for their ability to track by odor… if only we had Chowchow, it would be a lot easier to find him!

When Dana finally rolled up to a sitting position, I caught sight of her eyes. They were so red and puffy that I wondered if she'd been crying all night rather than sleeping. No, strike that, she'd definitely been asleep: she looked around with a confusion only possessed by the recently awoken. It took her several minutes to realize that her Pokemon really was gone, that it hadn't been a dream… she began bawling again at once.

Whatever maternal spirit that possessed Casey the day before was gone. She was back in character, and rolled her eyes at the display of emotion. I shot her a warning glance over Dana's hung head and hugged my old friend. Richard poked at the popping bacon in silence.

"We can't stay here too much longer," said Casey after a moment. I guess she just couldn't keep her mouth shut. "That highwayman might be close behind, following us. Donfan have strong noses, he could figure out a way to catch up."

"But…" stammered Dana, jerking upright. "But if we leave, Chow won't be able to find us! We have to find him!"

"Infeasible," said Casey. "Sorry girlie, but he's gone. I'm really sorry he got left behind, to get me wrong, but there's really nothing we can do. It's better just to move on."

I was shocked. How could Casey be so heartless? Some of that briefly-experienced, brutal alter-Casey was showing through. I was reminded of the girl that tried to kill Rook, then blew up an airship and abandoned her best friends. Not again…

But she had a point: the odds of finding Dana's Snubbull were astronomically against us. As much as it hurt Dana, we'd only be putting ourselves in danger by hanging back.

It's strange how such a random incident, a small crime, can change someone's world so much.

It all came back then, the day that started it all. John Rook, the battling dragon Pokemon, Matt's shattered body slipping to the ground… I turned away from the others and curled up in a ball. Casey and Dana were barking at each other, but I absorbed none of what they said and didn't even bother trying to quell their argument. Dark thoughts welled up around me; I felt like I was sitting in mineshaft that was slowly filling with black water. There was not much air left…

"Ian," said Richard calmly.

I looked over at him. Had he understood? Had he drawn the lines, picked out the similarities just as I had? Did he know that my loss and Dana's were not so different, and the rending ambivalence I was feeling?

I smiled slightly at the surprising insight of my best friend and…

"How do you like your bacon?"

Ah well. An intervention was too much to hope for, but Richard's culinary question served as a scapegoat for my mind and I turned my back on sepulchral remembrances.

"That looks fine."

By the time I had snapped up a few pieces of bacon I was on a roll away from the bad memories, so I continued on my probable mental trajectory. I stood and swiveled back to Casey and Dana.

"What do you know about me? Why are you even traveling with us? You _don't _know what I'm going through!"

"Don't know? You ignorant bitch! My parents died in a car accident, goddamn it, and my grandfather was murdered! You think this is loss? I'll show you loss… loss of limb!"

Casey advanced on the now quivering Dana. With a sigh, I stepped between them and extended my arms in either direction. One hand rested on Dana's shoulder, the other hovered in front of Casey's chest. She could have pushed by me easily if she'd really wanted to, and probably given me a mean left-hook for my troubles, but she didn't. Thankfully, Casey stepped back. I sensed her weight shifting away from Dana and knew it was safe. I withdrew my arms and made Dana sit down by the campfire.

"Dana," I said quietly. Something about my tone of voice made Casey snort and I heard her stomp off, mumbling about firewood. "I know this hurts you a lot, but really, after a freak incident like that, we should be counting our blessings. All of us have experienced more loss than you would expect, so it's best not to judge. And I can't tell you how sorry I am that we lost Chowchow, and he might turn up, you never know, but really…

"We need to get moving."

She stared at me. Her eyes began to glisten, and I knew the waterworks were on the way. I patted her shoulder until she was clutching her head, wailing once again. I gestured desperately to Richard and for once he took a hint and came to put his arms around Casey.

"I wanna go home…" I heard her murmur. "I hate this, I hate this, I just wanna go home…"

"It'll be ok," said Richard unconvincingly. "There, there."

Meanwhile, I hopped up and walked a little ways down the road, back the way we had come. I guessed we had flown a mile or two away from the highwayman's ambush spot, but he could have caught up with us if he really wanted to by traveling through the night. It wouldn't be difficult, but it was unlikely.

I saw no sign of Casey, but I decided to have a look around for myself. Not for firewood, but for some sign of the missing Snubbull. The terrain here was fairly even –there was no longer a distinct uphill or downhill on either side of the road, but the route was still shrouded in thick arbor. I couldn't see very far in, but I stayed there for several minutes anyways, straining for a glimpse of pink.

(-o-)

"Package for you," said the warden one morning.

By Rook's count, there were only five days left until his execution. When he thought of it, his body trembled in anticipation. _Soon, so soon…___he did not even know if he was eager or afraid. It was a hybrid of the two, he decided before rolling over to acknowledge his captor.

"X-press Mail Service, too," the man remarked. "Fancy."

Rook sat up. Once, not so long ago, he would have self-consciously hidden his disfigurements from everyone. For years, he had hidden it behind an iron mask. When the mask was gone, he had no choice but to show himself to the world, and even then, he preferred to observe things from behind a scarf and sunglasses. His battle with Ian had changed him: he no longer feared the red tree-root twists of his skin. They no longer embarrassed him, and now, it was with something like pride that he displayed his face to the delivery man.

He was tall and thin in a peaked cap and navy-blue suit. A Delibird waddled tentatively behind him.

In his hands, the delivery man held a box. It was not very large, perhaps the size of a dinner plate and little thicker. He handed it wordlessly to Rook, then retreated through the open cell door, which the warden closed and locked before signing for delivery.

John Rook split the tape with an untrimmed thumb nail and removed the parcel's paper case without tearing it. He slid out the box within. It was made of rough wood, and when Rook pried it carefully open, a sea of sawdust was the only thing that greeted him. Of course, there could only be one thing submerged in that dusty pool.

The warden and delivery man watched, like children observing an animal at the zoo, bars and all.

Rook's hand slipped into the sawdust and he withdrew a shining effigy.

The face was anonymous –modeled after no one in particular, but bearing a striking persona nonetheless. Rook ran his fingers over its high cheekbones, sharp nose, sober lips. Its eyeholes stared at him stupidly. It had no life yet. The mask was made of gold, or something resembling it, and was soft to his touch.

The features were not his, not anything like what his had ever been, but they were his now.

Rook blew the remnants of the sawdust away and set the mask against his skull. It would serve as a beautiful burial mask… no, a burial face. A true face. Rook located a leather strap in the box and deftly fastened on his new visage. He pulled his hair over the band and surveyed the world through his new golden eyes. Yes, it was what he wanted, the perfect last right.

Jamie would be so pleased.


	10. Chapter 9: the Good Witch

AUTHOR'S NOTE: kudos to anyone who can get the easter-egg concerning the title.

actually, it's not _that_ hard, but it's not altogether obvious either....

**Chapter 9: the Good Witch**

We forged on that afternoon. Much as it irked me to admit it, Casey was completely right: there was no reason to stay where we were and plenty to move on. Dana's Pokemon didn't find us by the time we had finished breakfast, and the odds were that it would not find us… but Chowchow could survive in the wild, I was sure, and who knew, someone might befriend it and take it home. Then again, this was Chowchow we were talking about, and it was perhaps the most ornery and perpetually disgruntled Pokemon I had ever met.

But I had a plan to cheer Dana up. I wasn't sure it would actually help, but it would get her mind off the loss of her companion. I explained my idea to Richard quietly; Dana was slumping along dejectedly ahead of us, and Casey brought up rear, staring at the sky absentmindedly.

"Just sneak into the bushes," I whispered. "See if you can scare something up and I'll try and coach her…"

"Um," said Richard, rather loudly. I shushed him and he continued in a susurrus. "Are you sure this is such a good idea?"

I considered this briefly. True, thrusting an opportunity like this at Dana out of the blue might only deepen her depression. Then again, it might be just what the doctor ordered to perk her back up. It was risky, and though I wasn't usually a gambler, I decided to make an exception for my old friend.

Moments later, Richard had vanished into the foliage and was rooting and weaving along parallel to the road. I smiled to myself as the seconds passed. Any time now…

"Yee-OW!"

I turned and looked in direction that Richard had gone. A few yards down the road, a small explosion burst from the forest. Orange tendrils glowed frighteningly from the ferns. Black smoke lumbered over the path. My spine tingled: somewhere around there was Richard.

With a curse, I summoned my two water Pokemon. Calypsa, the Vaporeon I received from my short-time girlfriend in the Orange Islands, and Stella, the Starmie that had stood by since the start of my journey, combined their powers of hydration and doused the blaze quickly. However, a few tongues of flame remained… but these didn't seem to be attached to any fixed object. No, they were bobbing toward us through the trees.

By this point, Casey and Dana had ceased their respective dawdling and appeared on either side of me, looking perplexed.

"Wait," I said, both to them and to my Pokemon. Calypsa nodded and Stella chimed an affirmative.

Suddenly, with a wild, primal ululation, Richard burst out onto the road, fire streaming off his clothes. He yelped again and dropped to the ground, rolling to remove the flames. My Pokemon hosed him down as he tumbled over and over…

"Keep it up," I ordered with a sigh. The jets of water continued to drench Richard until he stopped twitching. I approached him and nudged him onto his back with one foot. His skin was red and chaffed and his shirt was carbonized around the shoulders. I was just about to ask him why he had spontaneously combusted when the reason came bounding out of the trees.

The red-orange, bristling body of a Growlithe landed on the dusty path before us. Its tiny teeth shined like diamonds from the dense fur around its mouth. The black stripes on its back were stark against their fiery background; the bushy tail was erect and back was concave, poised for a fight. I guess Richard had stumbled on the Growlithe's territory. But he completed his mission, despite his minor burns: he had scared out a Pokemon for Dana to catch.

I rushed behind the girl and forced her forward. Her eyes had gone wide in surprise, and for a second, a blank expression possessed her face. Then…

"Oh my GOSH! It's so cute!"

I resisted the urge to slap myself in the face and immediately began my carefully improvised monologue.

"Dana, look, a wild Pokemon! This is perfect, you've got to catch it!"

Doubt suddenly clouded her face. Dana bit a fingernail. Meanwhile, Richard laid still and tried to be inconspicuous while the Growlithe sniffed him suspiciously. Calypsa and Stella scampered out to form a perimeter so that the wild Pokemon couldn't escape. Casey watched us all, vaguely amused.

"Why doesn't one of you catch it?" Dana said uncertainly. It was pretty clear that she was nervous and trying to remove the weight that had just been pushed on her. I was confident in her, though. I knew she could do this… she just needed a push in the right direction.

"Richard and I already have fire-type Pokemon," I explained quickly. Growlithe began to trot back toward the ferns but was intercepted by my Vaporeon. With a playful tail-slap, she nudged him back toward us… now Growlithe was beginning to look nervous as well. "And Casey doesn't need one, do you Casey?"

"Actually, Growlithe evolves into Arcanine, which is an extremely powerful Pokemon considered legendary in some parts of the world. It'd be great to…"

"Casey doesn't need it," I interjected to Dana. "Don't worry Dana, I'll help you every step of the way."

She looked from Growlithe to me, then back to the Pokemon.

"What do I do first?"

I smiled.

"Call out your Treecko and get ready: you're gonna have to fight for it."

"Ok… like this, right?"

Dana cautiously retrieved the pokeball from her backpack and held it at arms length, as if it might explode in her hand. With a flick of the wrist, the ball was cast to the ground. It chimed on impact, deposited the brightly colored gecko Pokemon with a cheery burst of light, then bounced back to Dana's hand. She caught it, almost surprised by the ease of it all.

"Perfect!" I said. "Now, you're going to need to weaken Growlithe first. Then you can throw a pokeball at it to catch it and…"

With a bark, Growlithe loosed a volley of yellow embers at us. Dana and yelped and dove out of the way, but Treecko was still standing where its trainer had left it, waiting for orders. The starter Pokemon was right in the path of the blast. Half a dozen embers struck it the back and tail, and with a high-pitched shriek of discomfort, Treecko leapt into the air. It ran in senseless circles around its opponent, batting itself with thin green arms in an attempt to quell the flames. Growlithe watched it with a smug grin; its tiny white teeth glinted cheekily.

"Ah! What do I do?"

"Roll, Treecko!" I called, hoping Dana's Pokemon would listen to me.

Treecko took the hint and dropped to the ground, performing the same ritual as Richard had earlier to ease its pain. The fire was smothered in seconds, and with a gasp of relief, Treecko stumbled upright and to its feet…

Growlithe bolted to its foe, mouth wide. A glow emanated from within its mouth, casting weird shadows across its teeth.

"Attack, Treecko!" screamed Dana, desperately. "Hit it!"

Treecko, as jittery as its train, lashed out spastically with its arm. One sucker-cup-tipped hand caught Growlithe in a surprising slap; the fire Pokemon tripped and face-planted, Treecko's sticky hand still stuck to its face.

"YES!" Dana jumped up, pumping her fist in the air. "We got it!"

"Don't let your guard down," I cautioned quickly. Growlithe was already on its feet, trying to pull away, but it could not shake free of its opponent's inadvertent grip. Luckily for Treecko, as long as its hand was stuck to Growlithe's face, the fire Pokemon couldn't get it with an Ember or Bite attack. Treecko was safe for the moment, but it could not last long. "You need to attack again!"

"Um…" Dana wracked her mind. Surely someone had told her about her Pokemon's techniques and abilities! "How?"

I guess not.

"I think Treecko should know moves like Pound, Quick Attack… maybe Bullet Seed!"

But before I had gotten past "Pound", Dana gave her command. She ordered her Pokemon to do the first move she heard, and Treecko complied obediently.

It pirouetted quickly, bushy tail extending from the centrifugal force. The appendage pounded Growlithe in the side. The suction from Treecko's hand was broken and the wild Pokemon was flung away. It tumbled down the road and came to a stop next to Richard, who was trying to remove himself surreptitiously from the scene; the instant Growlithe landed next to him, semi-conscious and growling like a little thundercloud, he cried out in fear and bounded away.

"Ok, pokeball ready?"

I looked at Dana. She was already excavating her satchel for one.

Growlithe got its hind legs upright and was struggling to get its forelegs up as well. It squinted at Dana and Treecko –I must admit, they made a surprisingly good team. I had only coached them half as much as I had expected to. I smiled to myself as Dana's hand reappeared with the small sphere of the pokeball. She expanded it and prepared to toss.

She looked at me, one last time, to make sure she was doing it right.

I grinned.

"Go for it."

"GO!" she cried, tossing the ball at the Growlithe.

Dana had never really been the athletic type: it was little surprise that her throw came up short. It landed on the path a few feet away from Growlithe, but its capture beam extended like a whip and absorbed the fire Pokemon before it could regain its footing.

Growlithe vanished in an empyrean pulse. The pokeball chimed informatively. It was inside, now it just had to stay inside.

The ball was shaken from within. It rolled jauntily back and forth until Dana scooped it up and clamped it up with her hands. She stared at the opening-button, which was blinking red, and her eyes widened. She gripped the ball tighter, afraid it would pop open at any moment…

I crossed my fingers…

And with a final tone, the button stopped blinking and pokeball settled.

"YES!"

(-o-)

That night, we found a clearing, about a quarter-mile in diameter, just off the road that had obviously been recently used by some other travelers (there were scraps of plastic and tin around its edges, and the long grass had been tamped down by footsteps). And my gambit paid off: Dana was so absorbed in her new Pokemon that she seemed to have put aside thoughts of Chowchow for the moment. She didn't open the ball to look at Growlithe, though. She just cradled it in her hands and stared at it euphorically.

"I can't believe I caught my first Pokemon!" she told me for the fortieth time. Casey opened her mouth to say something abrasive, but I shot her a warning look and she deterred.

No one should have their first catch spoiled for them.

Dana hadn't returned Treecko after the fight. The grass Pokemon scampered around giddily, clinging to Dana's shoulder or pouncing through the undergrowth around our campground. It was an exceedingly pleasant evening, so I let some of my Pokemon out for some air as well. Saturn lumbered over and nestled into the grass at the clearing's edge; Calypsa sniffed our bags for remains of food; Combusken quickly dug a fire-pit at the clearing's center and got a little blaze going.

As the sky darkened, clouds drifted down from the north. They moved with surprising speed overhead and began to clot together, thick floes of umber in the sky. The rest of the wilting daylight was blotted out. The wind rustled through the trees.

We stared into the atmosphere for a while, but took little notice. There was not much to see, it seemed, just pugnacious clouds that didn't have the guts to do anything to us.

"I'm hungry," whined Richard suddenly. I glared at him: he reminded me that I was ravenous as well.

"We should reach Violet City tomorrow," I said. "Surely you can make it until then!"

"But what if something else comes up?" asked Dana. "What if we get attacked again and it takes us another day? We'll starve or…"

"We won't starve," I said with a sigh. "We can scavenge for food in the woods if it comes to that, but it won't. We _will_ get to the city tomorrow. I promise."

It was then that I realized that it had been me rather than Casey to tell Dana off. The fact that Casey had not been the first to criticize was strange… I looked around. Where was Casey, anyways?"

She stood at the edge of the clearing, looking through the trees. Mountains loomed on the northern horizon, and the sky churned above them. I walked over to her and was about to ask what was going on when she raised a hand, silencing me. What…

"Listen," she said simple.

I didn't hear it at once, but the second I did, I turned and ran back to the camp. There was a rushing noise, like a river of sound, crashing toward us through the forest. It was accompanied by little bullet-thuds of hail, and final, crescendoed with a blinding flash of lightning, a tumultuous roll of thunder. I realized that Casey was running beside me.

And the storm was on our heels.

"Richard!" I screamed. He and Dana looked up surprised. "Instant tent!"

My dad bought a new version of these handy devises before we left Saffron City. It was a shoebox-sized parcel of nylon and steel with a little ripcord on top, like that on an inflatable raft. Richard dug it quickly out of his backpack and threw it to the ground. Instantly, his fingers began fumbling with the chord.

A hailstone struck me neck. It stung like bug bite, but I ignored it and doubled my pace. I returned my Pokemon quickly; the wind had already put out Combusken's camp fire.

Dana, thankfully, had the foresight to gather up our bags when she saw the sheets of rain on Casey's and my backs. As Richard pulled the ripcord and tent began slowly expanding, she shoveled our packs in and dove after them. Richard followed as soon as the tent was large enough; it was big enough to sleep four or five people, but unfortunately, it had not yet grown to that size.

So, when Casey and I crashed inside, it was a rather tight fit for all four of us and our packs.

Something sticky brushed my cheek and I realized that Treecko was on top of me. In its fright, its clung to my head with its sucker-padded feet. The little Pokemon chattered timidly and only leapt off when another thunderclap tolled in the distance.

Finally, the tent reached its full size and we relaxed, leaning against the walls which were already being cooled by the rain. Hail pelted off the roof and the wind occasionally shook the synthetic fortifications, but we were safe and mostly dry. We all collapsed into relieved sighs and nervous laughter. Treecko still bounced off the walls for a few seconds after each flash of lightning.

(-o-)

We never quite got to sleep, only a dreary half-slumber. There was too much noise and energy permeating the tent's thin walls. Though we were dry, we were still impacted by the weather.

So it was a dark and stormy night: the perfect time to receive guests.

Treecko was in the process of timorously dancing on my head when I detected them.

I wasn't sure at first that I didn't just see the silhouette of a thrashing tree branch when a strobe of lightning lit up the sky. A vaguely human-shaped shadow appeared on the fabric of the tent; something squat and lumpy lumbered beside it, and a jellyfish-like shape was suspended above them both. It could have just been twigs and leaves, rendered invaders by the tempest, but then again…

I pulled Treecko off my head and set it down next to Dana, who seemed to have drifted into a weak, fitful sleep. Richard was similarly indisposed, and Casey was turned toward the wall so that I couldn't tell if her eyes were opened or closed. So it was up to me to determine the nature of the silhouette.

I grabbed Stella's pokeball and crawled a smoothly as I could to the door.

There was another flash; the forms were still there, just a few yards from the tent.

Stealthily, I unzipped the tent door but held it shut to keep the rain out. Wind tugged playfully at its edges, but I held the flap tightly… I counted down from three. At zero, I flung the hatch open and rolled out into the rain.

I was slapped in the face by a thousand dripping hands, and the gale almost tore my breath from my longs, but I forced myself to my feet and released my Starmie. My hair –which was starting to get overlong and hung, glutted with water, in face- blinded me for an instant but I wiped it away. And sure enough, there were two dark shapes standing before me, one thin and one squat, beneath a dark hemisphere of matter that blocked the rain. So I hadn't imagined them.

"Who are you?" I demanded over the torrent. "Who are you?"

A decidedly out-of-place burst of laughter tinkled in the rain. One shape, at least, was female.

I noticed suddenly that a bubble of transparent force surrounded the shadows, deterring the rain and wind. The jelly-fish object that hung above them was an umbrella. And the squat shape was a Pokemon of some kind.

"Am I that unrecognizable? Flash, Alakazam."

Before the sentence was completed, I began having suspicions about our visitor's identity. The sphere of pulsing light that appeared above her Pokemon's palm confirmed my premonition.

Standing beneath an unnecessary umbrella inside a Protection bubble generated by her psychic Pokemon was Sabrina, the gym leader of Saffron City.

A smile lit her face more brightly than the Flash and lightning combined; her square bangs did not sway in the wind.

"Ian, Volkner sent me," she said, her smile quickly fading into a concerned frown. "I'm afraid I come as the bearer of bad news."

The tempest's chill finally permeated my skin… or maybe it was just the cold fear that Sabrina's words instilled. She had a way of speaking that permeated the very soul of her listeners –I remembered it from our previous meetings, all of which concerned the Storm's Eye. Now that the radical organization had been crushed, I had hoped that my next encounter with Sabrina (as well as my encounters with the rest of the gym leaders involved in the Storm's destruction) would be on happier notes.

"Rook has escaped from prison," she said.

Oh my God.

"Could I come inside? I think your friends should hear this too. I recall Richard Davis and Cassidy Ryne, but who is… Dana? I feel her brainwaves… she seems to be trustworthy."

"Yes," I said, but there was nothing to my voice but its sound. It was a hollow shell of waves, because in an instant, my world had gone from slightly cloudy skies to a deluge of Biblical proportions.

(-o-)

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ah, and finally the plot kicks off.

Sorry to keep you all waiting.


	11. Chapter 10: Flash

**Chapter 10: Flash  
**

"I don't know all of the details," said Sabrina, cautionary. Outside, Alakazam sat before the tent flap; its Protection bubble had expanded to shield our tent, and the rain beat harmlessly against it. So, for the moment, our tent sat in relative calm, oblivious to the raging tempest outside.

It was ironic: one of the most earth-shattering moments of my life took place in peace.

"But I was there when it happened, and I picked up a little more than everyone else because of my ESP." Sabrina sat, cross-legged, between me and Dana. Casey was at my side and Richard was across from me… it was a little tight with all of us in the tent. "Volkner sent me to find you at once. I tried to do a long distant Teleport to Violet City, but interference from the storm forced me off course. Alakazam and I landed on the road and started headed toward town when I picked up a familiar brain wave pattern, so…

"Here I am. As soon as you're ready, I can start relaying what happened."

"Go," I blurted. I was being rude, but just then I didn't care. I needed to know what was going on. "Just tell us!"

Sabrina nodded gravely.

"This morning at eleven forty-two, Iron Island, off the coast of Sinnoh…"

(-o-)

High above the squat cube of the Iron Island Prison Complex, a tiny shape circled. It gyred at the very edge of the breathable atmosphere, an graceful blue avian with enormous cumulonimbus wings…

Sitting on the Altaria's smooth back was curious, pale form. A rake thin human clad in a white jumpsuit. Goggles shielded his eyes from glare, and an oxygen mask provided him with breathable air at that perilous height. Hair the color of sky twitched from his scalp. There was a black bandolier strapped horizontally across his chest and a few slender devices strapped around his wrists. He peered over the side of his elegant Pokemon at the sea below. Barely visible, miles underneath Altaria's wispy wings, was a speck of brown-gold land surrounded by churning foam.

The human said something comprehensible only to his Pokemon and patted it amicably on the neck. Altaria gave a high-pitched, melodic cry of agreement and angled even further up.

The cloud Pokemon rose gently, then somersaulted backward; at the top of its loop, it folded in its wings…

Altaria stalled in flight.

After a brief moment, hovering impossibly at the edge of space, Altaria plunged. The Pokemon dove toward the sea, toward the island… but it would be a long time before it would come anywhere close.

(-o-)

Meanwhile, in the bedlam of Iron Island…

Volkner and Jasmine, heads of the anti organization known as "the Hermes", troop down a corridor that rings beneath their footsteps like a harsh bell. They are flanked by three of their fellows: Wynona, leader of the Foretree City Gym, stands tall in her pale-leather bomber jacket; Blaine, a new inductee to the quasi-ranks of the Hermes, scratched his bald head and tried to ignore the muffled screams of the inmates; Sabrina, the Telepathic trainer from Saffron City, had come to see the execution of the man who had kept her prisoner for almost six months.

John Rook had still had a week left to live, but due to the arrival of his last request (in the form a golden mask, which he now wore constantly), he had asked that his execution take place immediately.

It was an extremely bizarre request, but then again, Iron Island had never seen anyone like John Rook.

After contacting Ryoku Suzuki, the man who had captured Rook, the request was approved. Ryoku had in turn contacted the Hermes, and now they came to meet him in the confines of the prison. Arriving by airship and Pokemon, five selected Hermes came to bear witness to the death and confirm Rook's passing. Ryoku was already waiting: he had arrived with the sun that morning on the back of his impressive Gyarados.

The five Hermes reached the end of their corridor, a square door of super-dense steel. They stated their names into to a microphone into the wall and waited while their identities were confirmed. Volkner shook his head at the excessive security; there was absolutely nothing to warrant it!

With a pressurized hiss, the portcullis swung inward. Volkner noted that it was almost a foot thick.

On the other side was a narrow room. Three of the walls were tan steel, just like the rest of the complex; the forth, a longitudinal wall to the left of the doorway, was entirely made of glass. It looked in on much larger room, which was completely bare save for a white leather chair in its center. It looked the chair in a dentists office, except that it had two-inch wide leather straps hanging from its sides, waiting to ensnare their eventual prey. A few men in lab coats or medical attire meandered about, procuring various items from small shelves along the walls.

But in the narrow room…

Ryoku Suzuki stood, stoically watching the glass. He was very young, in his early twenties, but then again, Pokemon battling was a young man's game. His hair was wild and radiated in various directions from his head. Two wavy yellow tendrils hung before his eyes. Sharp cheekbones, dark eyes, pointed chin… he wore jeans, a goldenrod t-shirt, and a slim black cardigan. His expression was vague, yet intense.

Volkner approached him and shook his hand without a word.

No one, Sabrina noticed, was speaking. But their thoughts… their thoughts roared. She ignored the sea of excited, horrified, ecstatic brainwaves and knelt at the glass wall. Sabrina probed forward, through the glass, then air, then steel…

In a room, not so far from hers, Sabrina sensed, _She will be so proud. She will be so impressed._

Sabrina shivered and looked away, letting the mental probe dissolve into the ether. Some minds were better left unexplored.

After a few moments of placidity, the personal beyond the glass began to stir more agitatedly. It was eleven fifty-five. Rook was to be executed at noon.

(-o-)

A blue blur descended like a bullet on the Island.

At exactly eleven fifty-five, the moment Sabrina pulled her thoughts from Rook's, the Altaria and its rider tripped the psychic sensory field that emanated from the prison. In the heart of the complex, two Abra and a Xatu began chattering loudly, manipulating the cameras outside to hone in on the infiltrator. Their human counterparts watched the screens and the plunging form that appeared on them.

Future Sight was used, and upcoming temporal landmarks were briefly glimpsed: _fighting, a white and red blur, and writhing blue shape, elemental attacks slamming into structures_. Immediately, an alarm went off.

Klaxons screamed through the prison; the employees and incarcerated alike looked at the PA systems on the walls in the crooks of ceilings.

"INFILTRATION ALERT!" warned the Head Warden, to cheers from the inmates. "TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION!"

Radio-waves crackled through the air and burst out the walkie-talkies of the airborne guards. The interior police were warned as well, and they were split into two groups: one to get outside and prepare to eliminate the incoming threat, one to quell the rising riot inside the prison walls.

Above, Altaria's trainer screamed a command over the already screaming wind. The attack kicked in instantly: a contrail of bright blue energy burst from Altaria's tail like an afterburner -a bright, strong Dragon Rush. Its speed doubled. It was closing in on Iron Island, now just seconds away.

Dozens of avian Pokemon, some with riders, were dispatched in an attempt to stop it, but Altaria already had far too much momentum to be stopped.

With a series of bright flashes, Altaria collided with the Pokemon that approached it and smote them from the sky. The speed and energy of the Dragon Rush caught several on fire and sent them smoking to the sea. It quickly became clear that nothing would stop the aerial Juggernaut, and the flying Pokemon moved from its path to circle sheepishly. On the ground, a series of red flashes: dozens of Pokemon were summoned and prepared for battle.

Altaria rushed the roof of the prison. It showed no sign of slowing, as if planned to burst through the feet of steel and concrete. On its back, its rider discarded his oxygen mask; he was smiling madly and crowed with excitement…

(-o-)

Rook was moved to his chair and strapped in. He had no doubt heard the warning klaxons, but said nothing of it. In fact, he said nothing at all and was patient and cooperative as he was belted down. His last moments…

The Hermes and the Champion had been alerted: a man was approaching the prison on the back of a powerful Altaria, and initial attempts to stop him had failed. His mission was unknown. The gym leaders already had their first pokeballs in their hands. The instant Rook was injected, they would go upstairs and aid in the battle that would no doubt ensue…

(-o-)

At the last possible second, Altaria pulled up and ceased its Dragon Rush. A volley of attacks flew up to meet it, but they were far too slow. Flashes of green and yellow light, jets of water, fireballs, all passed through Altaria's wake.

The flying-dragon Pokemon hooked again toward the sky, following some bizarre, parabolic path. Altaria went vertical as it approached the edge of the prison's massive, flat roof, and something small and white peeled of its back.

The Pokemon's rider dropped to the structure and seconds later, Altaria slammed down next to him. Before them, a menagerie of determined looking Pokemon glared them down.

The man, who still wore his goggles, pointed cockily at the spearhead of the crowd. His short, bright-blue hair shifted in the maritime breeze.

"Come and get us, stupid bastards!"

(-o-)

The executioner, a skinny man in khakis and a long white coat, trembled and pushed his spectacles up his sweaty nose. It wasn't often that they had to kill a prisoner. In his hand was a hypodermic needle full of a drug that would induce, almost instantly, a cardiac arrest in the prisoner. The procedure would not hurt much, and after all, the prisoner had requested to receive it early…

"We don't have all day, goddamn it!" barked his superior. "Get it over already!"

The man winced and looked down and John Rook. The most dangerous man in the world. Saint John, to the inmates. Beneath the golden effigy that enshrouded his face, Rook's eyes were closed. He was murmuring softly, but no cohesive words made it through the matter of the mask. The executioner swallowed; he was not cut out for this line of work.

Suddenly, the building shook. An Earthquake that would have registered at least an 8.5 on the Richter Scale grabbed the building and oscillated it violently. Several beams hit their resonant frequency at once and snapped; interior walls went down. The needle jumped from the executioner's already trembling hand and dispersed its lethal contents on the floor.

The ether was wrought with energy from the quake, but Sabrina picked up something else, shifting through the undercurrents…

"Get ready!" she screamed. "Something's coming!"

Her comrades looked at her questioningly. No one ducked.

"Just get ready," she said. "The Earthquake is just a cover to throw off the sensory Pokemon: it'll disrupt the psychics enough to hide what's really coming. I can feel it though, it's about to…"

And it did.

With a noise like ripping paper, three newcomers appeared in the midst of capital procedures, behind the glass. There was a woman, with long, squarely cut magenta hair wearing an identical jumpsuit to the one of the man above. A green glass visor covered her eyes, but her smooth mouth was curled in a cunning smile. Two Pokemon stood at her side: a heavily focused Kadabra, the star on its chest glowing brightly and spoon bent from the forces it manipulated; and a Zangoose, small and bestial, but concealing huge power in its furry palms…

It was the claw Pokemon that moved. At an unheard command from its trainer, the Zangoose leapt forward and pirouetted in mid-air. It batted away the would-be executioner and extending its long black claws with a noise like scissors closing. Its hissed loudly as it slashed John Rook's bonds open. The employees began shrieking and running for the doors, but they were sealed in customary lockdown. A few Pokemon came out and tried to subdue the Zangoose, but it was already clear to the Hermes that they would fail.

A Golbat, gawking in stupid surprise, was Slashed easily from the air before it could dispatch its Sludge Bomb; Zangoose immediately turned on the Magnetric and Vibrava that had appeared to face it, and sent them both sprawling with a rapid Double Kick. Meanwhile, the red-headed woman helped John Rook to his feet alongside her Kadabra.

The gym leaders summoned their Pokemon quickly. Luxray, Magneton, Ninetales, Swellow, Alakazam. Volkner glanced at Ryoku and the young man nodded back. He was the Champion of Kanto and Johto –this was as much his fight as theirs. With a red flash, his Raichu joined them, electricity crackling anticipatively from its golden fur. With a high-pitched cry, the electric mouse lashed out its long tail and shattered the bay window.

Broken glass rained down on the room below, and the woman looked up through her green eyeshade. She blew a kiss of Volkner, then nodded quickly to her psychic Pokemon.

She, Rook, Zangoose, and Kadabra vanished as quickly as they had come.

"We need to fan out," said Volkner immediately. "Set up a perimeter and alert the guards above and… where's Sabrina?"

The young woman had vanished, along with her psychic Pokemon.

(-o-)

Back on the roof.

Altaria was gone now, brought down by numbers alone (it was far stronger than any Pokemon the guards had to offer). The blue haired man now confidently ordered a limber Kingdra about. It rode on a self-generated crest of water and charged through all opposition, viciously tearing down anything that came into its path. The blue-haired man cackled. It was a shame that the fun was almost over…

There was a brief, sharp noise and his companion appeared beside him, her Pokemon ready and John Rook in tow. She reached out to take his hand, and then they would be away from this mess for good, and paid handsomely.

There was pop and the hand was swatted away.

Standing between them was Sabrina. Her bulky Alakazam stood behind her, face drawn from the stress of Teleportation.

The red-haired woman waved to her companion and her psychic Pokemon did the same. Instantly, the blue haired man, Rook, and all of their Pokemon vanished. Only the woman and Kadabra remained, staring down Sabrina.

"Where did they go?" demanded the gym leader, as if she really expected to get an answer.

The redhead didn't answer, but gave a calm order to her Pokemon. Kadabra looked up at its superior, its evolved form. Alakazam stared back; its tremendous mustache quivered. The short, downy hair that covered its body stood on end. It raised its spoons, prepared to strike its insubordinate junior down…

There was a blinding flash and Alakazam was thrown across the roof of the prison. Sabrina shielded her eyes from the blast, but she knew that the woman was gone before she lowered her arms.

It was twelve oh-one and John Rook was at large once again.

(-o-)

"Volkner sent me as soon as Alakazam was healed enough to Teleport me. The others are searching the nearest shores, but as far as I know, they've had no luck yet…"

I felt something boiling inside me. Red hate crept into my arms and almost took control: they wanted to hit Sabrina, to beat her for letting that monster slip away! I shook off that emotion quickly. It wasn't remotely what I wanted. What I wanted to never have to worry about Rook again. And now, and now…

But who knew? Maybe he wouldn't come after me. Maybe he was beyond that now, maybe he no longer cared. Hopefully. All I could do was pray, but a feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that was useless. The same gut emotion made me certain I'd see Rook again, certain he was not finished… but why had these two mysterious trainers broken Rook out in the first place?

I sighed, and realized that everyone was watching me intently, fearfully. Well, everyone but Dana: she was glancing between everyone else confusedly. She had no idea what was going on, and I felt like I needed to keep it that way. She had been through enough already, and the last thing in the world I wanted was to get her involved with John Rook.

An idea began to form in my mind… I knew suddenly that I would have to go through with it soon, for the sake of my friends and quite possibly the world.

But for now.

"Well," I said, considering the story. "What do we do? Is there anything else I should know?"

"In the hours between the attack and now," said Sabrina, digging in the pocket of her slick black coat, "Volk had us do a little research. We identified the two trainers. It wasn't difficult: the man is known as Mizuiro, and the woman, Akai. They're infamous bounty hunters, and numbers twenty four and twenty five on the List."

"The List?" asked Richard.

"An international roster of the world's most skilled Pokemon trainers," explained Casey quickly. She noticed our surprised stares and shrugged. "Beech made me memorize it back when I lived with him. Let's see… number one on the List is Ryoku Suzuki, Champion of Kanto and Johto. Number two was Wallace Casca, from Hoen, but Rook killed him. Come to think of it, Rook must be pretty high on this list…"

"He's in the top ten." Sabrina looked at the door. "I'm really sorry, but we've got a lot of work to do. I have to get back and help the Hermes try and locate Rook, and now we've got all sorts of loose ends to tie up. I have to go.

"But wait before you make any action, ok?" she continued. "The Hermes will be having several intensive meetings over the next few days. We'll get word to you as soon as we have something new to say, but for now, continue on your path. Go to Violet City and challenge the gym there –you should get their early tomorrow morning. And be careful, all of you. Avoid any unnecessary risks. Goodbye and good luck."

Sabrina smiled weakly and vanished, simultaneous to a flash of lightning. Seconds later, the thunder rolled and the rain's assault of our tent continued.


	12. Chapter 11: One Pure Thought

**Chapter 11: One Pure Thought**

It took me a moment to realize that everyone was staring at me.

Three sets of wide eyes (Treecko's were confusedly darting around the room in search of the suddenly vanished Sabrina) bored into me, one with concern, one with fear, and one with some dazed mix of the two.

"What?" I said bluntly after a moment, and laid back down on my sleeping bag.

"Ian," said Casey cautiously. She reached out and put an arm on my shoulder; Dana turned away quickly, embarrassed. "How do you feel?"

No.

"How do you think I feel!" I screamed, pulsing to my feet. "The man that ruined my life just broke out of prison to come finish the job! I thought it was over, Casey, I moved on! What now? You tell me, what the hell are we supposed to do now!"

I didn't wait for an answer. I was already halfway to my feet, so I shoved my way out of the tent and ran into the rain. The water was frigid and the clouds so thick that not even an echo of luminance made it the ground, but I ran anyways, and kept running until I felt the thick forms of the trees whipping by on either side. Then I stopped, for fear of running into one, and tumbled into the mud. I didn't land face down, luckily, but my head was still half-submerged in mud.

I lay there in the rain for what felt like hours; every time a freezing raindrop hit my back, it was a second; every gust of wind was a church bell tolling the hour. I cried into the earth, let my tears join the precipitation that was already glutting the ground. I hadn't felt like crying, but I guess the rain inspired my tear ducts to let something out.

After a moment, I rose and stumbled forward until my hands found a rough escarpment of bark in front of me. I felt the tree for a moment, placed my palms against its craggy surface, its thick roots just below my toes. I leaned forward gently. My forehead rested on the bark.

I screamed and reared back, swinging my arms wildly. I punched the tree once, as hard as I can –the bark was barely chipped, and my knuckles were completely skinned.

If I was Saturn, I could stomp out Earthquakes and send the tree crashing down, or shatter it with my vines; if I was Combusken, I could burn it to a crisp or split it wide up in a single chop; if I was Fang, I could uproot it with my teeth alone…

But me, Ian Cartwright, what could I do?

For all the strength of my Pokemon, for all that I could do with them, there was nothing that had ever accomplished alone.

I swiveled slowly and, without doing a thing to ease the burn of my split knuckles, sat down at the trunk of the tree. Some rational part at the back of my brain apologized for hitting it. A plan began spinning into existence in my head, like a top made of air growing steadily more solid. It had started to occur to me earlier, even as Sabrina spoke, but only know was I seriously considering it. I reached out (metaphorically) and placed one hand on the idea: it felt like a sword in my hand. Yes, soon enough I would use it.

Soon enough, I would have to leave my friends behind and track Rook down alone.

But before I could dwell on it, I talon of light poked through the trees; I saw it, red, on the lids of my closed eyes like a projector. I shifted uncomfortably. I vaguely detected a voice calling my name. No, three voices.

It was then that I started loosing consciousness. I didn't realize how until the next morning: a hybrid of exhaustion, and hypothermia from the wet-frigid night. I didn't even notice that my teeth were chattering and I had bitten my tongue several times. I started going numb and slumped over, teetering dangerously over the mud…

A hand reached out and clutched me toward something warm. I, not caring what it was, snuggled closer into the form. Whatever it was shifted uncomfortably at first, then seemed to decided that that was unnecessary. I was bundled quickly, dried; the rain no longer seemed to be falling on me.

The last thing I noticed before I blacked out completely was wings over me, shielding me from the storm (one orange, one brown-tan) and three pale indistinct faces shifting around me like dreams.

(-o-)

I awoke reluctantly, and I still felt cold and wet. I was back in the tent, but I was alone, and something hot floated in the middle of the room- Charizard's tail. Mummified in several layers of blankets, it took me a few surprised moments to work my arms free. I shrugged off the blankets and sat up, and immediately a sharp chill grabbed me below the shoulders. I yelped pitifully and burrowed back under the sleeping bags that had been heaped around me.

My noise was enough to alert Charizard to my consciousness. The fire Pokemon walked forward, carefully removing its burning tail through the portal; it roared informatively to my friends, so I curled back up and pretended to be asleep.

With my eyes squeezed closed, I could only hear a light shape entering the canvas room and settling down next to me. A hand brushed my forehead, which I had failed to conceal.

"I saw your knuckles," she said. Casey. "You didn't need to do that. And now you've caught a pretty nasty cold. It'll probably be at least a week until you're back up to speed –we'll have to wait for you recover once we get to Violet City. How do you feel?"

"Fine," I said, turning away from her and opening my eyes so she couldn't see. "I just had to let something out. I'm fine."

I could sense Casey looking away dubiously. Somehow, she already knew me well enough to know when I was bullshitting her.

"So when do we move out?" I asked to break the awkwardness.

"You're not going anywhere at the moment." She tousled my hair. "The rain's stopped, but the roads are almost too muddy to walk on. Once the sun dries everything up, Charizard is going to carry you into town. Richard went at dawn to gage the distance, but he's back now. We should be in Violet by noon."

"I wanna go outside," I said.

"I don't think…"

Sorry Casey, I had to go. I stood up, tying a blanket around my throat like a cape. I clutched it close to my skin in as many places as I could. Someone had taken off my wet clothes and (presumably) hung them to dry outside; but luckily, whoever had undressed me had also bothered to put my spare pair of nylon travel pants on me, so I wasn't indecent. My shoes were still strewn by the door –I slipped them on and walked out into the sodden grass.

Casey didn't try to stop me, but shook her head gravely and followed.

The ground was glutted with water. It probably would have come up to my ankles if it had not been for the long grass, which supported my feet like a vegetable pontoon. Combusken's fire pit was now a puddle, but Charizard had gotten a new fire going by hauling a tree in from the nearby grove and, after laying it on the ground, lighting the top of the log.

Dana stood by the log. Treecko romped distractedly through the grass about her feet, occasionally vanishing into the thicket that surrounded us on all sides. Richard stood by his starter Pokemon, which was now plopped in the wet grass in front of the tent. They both looked at me, obviously concerned, but said nothing; I had a feeling Casey had warned them, and I thanked her secretly.

"No food," announced Richard. "We'll have to restock once we get into Violet City." I nodded, but I wasn't really listening, just staring at the grass. "I think Dana needs a little more practice before she challenges the gym."

"I bet I can handle it!" piped up Dana suddenly. "After our fight yesterday, I bet me and Treecko can take on anybody!"

I shot Casey a playful glance, warning her not to say anything; I guess there was a tinge of a smile around my mouth, because she smiled back. Then, something else occurred to me.

"Wait a sec… Dana, where _is _Treecko?"

"Huh?"

Dana stopped and looked around. In no direction could we see the ripple of grass that would indicate motion from the lizard Pokemon. Dana started calling it, and, after a moment, the grass at the forest's edge fluctuated gently. With a high-pitched cry, the bright form of Treecko hopped up and waived at us –it was beckoning, calling us over to see something.

With a few confused glances, we approached one by one, Dana in the lead. I looked from Richard to the bouncing Pokemon, but no one returned my stare.

Finally, something good to report:

Slumped facedown in the mud beside Treecko was Chowchow. His tiny pink form was covered in grime from the ground, and I suspected that he had contracted a cold similar to mine (the little Pokemon twitched occasionally). Rolling playfully in the mud beside him was another Pokemon: a sleek blue Phanpy, no doubt one of the ones that attacked us early. Perhaps it had been left behind by the heard for some reason, or maybe it had decided to come with Chow, but whatever the reason, the miniature elephant Pokemon seemed to have come in peace. It appeared to be mimicking Chowchow by covering itself in mud and lying down, which led me to suspect that was somehow drawn to him.

"CHOW!" screamed Dana, scooping up her old Pokemon without bothering to wipe off the mud. "I knew you'd find us, I knew it! I knew it!"

Treecko turned its back coolly and grinned with pride: I guess Chow had taught it well.

So, for a few seconds, everything was going fine. Then Phanpy toddled up to Dana and nosed her shin with its trunk –it wanted to be picked up too. But Dana cringed and shuffled away.

"Um…" she said, nudging it back with her foot; Phanpy didn't seem to take the hint

I noticed the horrified look in her eyes and went over to pick Phanpy up myself. Because of her experience with the elephant Pokemon (I thought), she was terrified of poor Phanpy. Before I reached the unfortunate Pokemon, Casey had rushed over and swept it up into her arms. She picked up the Pokemon and smiled warmly at it before shooting Dana a poisonous look (which, fortunately, Dana didn't notice).

I changed course and stood by Casey.

"He's a bit of a runt," she said. "I bet that highwayman left him behind because he wasn't big enough. Poor thing."

I smiled. It was one of those rare moments when I really felt in love with Casey. I understand Dana's reluctance to take on Phanpy… but just shoving it away like that seemed cast Casey into a more favorable light. If there had been no one else around, I would have kissed her. Somehow, though, I think Dana was oblivious to any signs about mine and Casey's quasi-relationship.

Ah well. That was a problem for another day, and Dana wasn't making major advances on me anyways. I wondered briefly if she was attracted to either me or Richard, but it didn't matter…

And romance paled in comparison next to the importance of my coming task: Rook was still free, and no brief, touching moments would change that. I would wait for word from the Hermes, but no matter what that word was, I _had_ to go after Rook at the first available chance.

No matter what the cost.


	13. Chapter 12: Mysterious Mr Rakutan

sorry this one took so long: now that school is out, chapters should be more frequent, so stay tuned!

thanks, and read on

-TOFH

**Chapter 12: Mysterious Mr. Rakutan **

I know what you're thinking: it's about time we got to the first gym already!

And so we did.

Of course, we didn't get there as quickly as Sabrina predicted (when does anything _ever _go completely according to plan?) as it was too windy for Charizard to carry me safely, but we arrived within the day, which was good because I felt like shit. I was constantly racked by chills, while simultaneously developing hyperthermia from the numerous layers I had wrapped myself in. All in all, not a fun morning. On the upside, though, Saturn seemed willing enough to carry me into town on his back –something he normally wouldn't have done. Saturn was a proud Venusaur.

Anyways, after a few midmorning battles (in which Richard forced Dana to compete alone, to the chorus of his, my, and Casey's coaching), we chugged into the suburbs of town.

Violet was the second largest City in Johto, but not very populous by Kanto or Hoen standards. It did, however, have an incongruous amount of skyscrapers. I guess it comes with being a flying-town; Foretree, my hometown, was similarly categorized, but there, most of our houses and buildings are built onto trees.

The gym was clearly visible from the moment the skyline appeared over the forest canopy. A narrow tower topped with a hemisphere, on top of which the battles were played out. The whole structure was a deep, contemplative purple.

But first things first: a hotel (and quite possibly professional medical care) was in order, as I was beginning to lose consciousness.

Almost as soon as we entered the city limits, I started slipping into a series of micro-naps, the first of which caused me to slide limply off Saturn's back. Luckily, my Pokemon was pretty quick, and he reached out to catch me with his vines before I hit the ground. Richard was at my side at once, hoisting me back up and laying me over the base of Saturn's neck. My arms, legs, and head hung stupidly off each side.

"Huh…" I managed.

"Ok, that's it," said Casey. "We're getting you to a hospital."

"Buh…"

Well, slightly more intelligible.

But I was in no state to refuse, let a lone complain, Ss I let myself be carried into town like a sack of flour.

(-o-)

There was a sharp, whip-crack of sound and menagerie of figures stumbled out of ethereal subspace and into a dark room.

Akai, her red hair flying behind from the psychic currents of Teleportation, was first, followed by the fleet form of her Zangoose. Mizuiro hopped out the nothingness next with a jovial shout of success; his Kingdra landed at his side, curled and sprang into the air, mimicking its trainer's ululation. Rook stumbled forth, appearing immediately behind the dragon Pokemon. His face shown golden beneath his greasy black bangs and he was still wearing the white jumpsuit of an inmate. Though it did not change, the face on the mask seemed to reflect confusion from some inner ray of John Rook's soul –he had not the slightest idea where he was or why. Finally, Kadabra materialized, spoon still clutched in concentration. When the psychic Pokemon knew that all of its passengers had arrived safely, it dropped its focus and collapsed in exhaustion.

Akai returned it with a murmur of thanks. It done a difficult job well: but, then again, twelve hours of Teleporting to random place, then running for an undetermined amount of time in an unknown direction only to Teleport again had been hard on all of the criminals. The whole escape had been arduous, but there was no way any police force of ludicrous "anti-organization" would be able to track them down.

Rook knelt, tired from his journey, then, at a nod from Mizuiro, sat down completely. His legs burned with lactic acid: he had done nothing so strenuous in over a month.

The masked man looked around the enclosure he found himself in. It was not a room as he had originally thought, but a cave. He could pick out the random, raw textures of stone on the walls, which curved concavely to a point high above, forming a dome. The apex of the cave was so high that it was cobwebbed with shadows; a light fixture was set in the wall a few feet away, but it lit only a small globe of space.

After a moment spent catching his breath, Rook broke the silence.

"Thank you," he said; his voice was changed strangely by the mask, it sounded deeper and echoed slightly… "For saving me. But I do not understand why."

The bounty hunters, who had presently been stretching quietly on either side of Rook while taking deep, calming breaths, looked to each other. A look of knowing –not a smile, or frown, just a brief glance- passed between them, and Mizuiro caught Rook's attention.

"You're welcome." His voice sounded younger than he looked, and Rook suspected that blue hair-dye was to blame. "And for now, you don't need to know why."

Without another word, Mizuiro began walking off into the darkness. He returned his Kingdra with a flourish just before vanishing from sight.

"What my brother means to say," said Akai (her voice was much more seasoned than his, softer, wiser). "Is that we were hired to free you"-here she paused to brush a frond of magenta from her forehead-"and two clauses of our employment were that you not be told who our employer was, and that you are not to learn why he wanted you freed. I, myself, have only a slightly inkling to either of these answers… but I do know one thing:

"Our employer has requested a meeting with you." Rook's eyes widened behind the mask. "If you are ready, I'll take you to him now."

"I have nothing to wait for," said Rook.

"Follow me."

And Akai stepped into the shadows. Rook came after her with arms gently outstretched, to keep him from running into anything in the black.

"I understand that our employer keeps several chambers such as this dark… he's building something down here and wants no one to see, but he put a lamp in this room for us in anticipation. Very intelligent, our employer."

It was true: every few seconds, Rook felt himself passing something large and unseen. Some of the objects were making soft noises, ticks and quiet, low-pitched whistles. A few happened to exhale burst of steam or chilled air… they were machines, Rook decided. Machines of some sort.

A glimmer of light appeared in the distance. Rook could hear Akai's breaths moving just ahead, and he followed them unthinkingly. He was barely thinking anything, though, truth be told: he had been so prepared for death that he had pushed all thoughts from his mind. Rook now moved as a wraith, a homunculus. He was a hollow shell in a dark room…

Akai closed in on the glimmer of light, Rook on her heals. The illumination came from a single bulb, set on an arm protruding from the stone wall. Below it was a heavy steel door covered in peeling blue paint. It looked centuries old, like had survived the extinction of a previously unknown civilization. Leaning on the portal was Mizuiro; he had an exasperated look about his eyes and mouth.

"Took you long enough," he said, then opened the door.

A cool breeze billowed out, shoving even Rook's heavy hair from his shoulders. Without a word, he and the two mercenaries entered. Rook found himself in a small, square room with nondescript steel walls. It was clearly some sort of elevator.

And indeed, the moment all three were on board, the door closed automatic behind them and the floor shuddered. After a few awkward, jolty moments, the lift began gliding up. It was not, by any means, a smooth ride, but it was over quickly. Though the elevator only moved for a few brief seconds, Rook felt his ears pop several times: his elevation was changing rapidly.

And suddenly it stopped: the lift shuddered to halt and the door opened slowly, this time with a mock-pleasant chime.

The three passengers stepped out, and into a light and airy room. Rook was blinded for a moment –though there had been light in the elevator, it had been dim; his eyes were still used to the dark of the cave below. When the green-gold splotches cleared from his sight, Rook took in a large, circular room. The ceiling was high, giving the space a light and airy feel. The walls were paned from floor to ceiling with glass. The panoramic skyline which circumnavigated the building seemed vaguely familiar to Rook, but before he could stop and consider which city it was, the mercenaries led him forward, across the circular expanse.

"You'll be seeing him alone," Akai explained quickly. "This is explicit wish."

Rook said nothing, but let himself be maneuvered onto a slightly elevated blue rotunda at the far end of the room.

"We will be waiting ," she said.

Rook nodded. His mask caught the light and flashed impishly.

The rotunda quivered, than began to ascend, spiriting Rook upward much more smoothly than the elevator had. As he neared the lofty ceiling, a circular panel the precise size of the rising platform moved aside, exposing a dark opening. Rook stared at the hole until he was through it.

(-o-)

Once again, Rook was plunged into darkness. After a few moments of blinking, dozens of pale squares of light filtered through his mask, then retinas; television screens –the walls were lined with them from floor to ceiling. Rook stood at one foci of a vaguely elliptical room. At its other foci, there was a low table with an occupant at either side.

As soon as he was sure the platform below him was stable, Rook walked toward the table.

Though the television screens cast some ambient light around the room, none of it seemed to stick to the figures at the table. Radiance slid off them like water off of ducks. The shape nearest Rook did not appear to be human. It was not very tall, just barely peeping over the edge of the table, and rectangular in shape. Some sort of machine… Opposite the blocky object was a man; or at least, it was a silhouette. The shadow of a slouching man with finely combed hair and a designer suit slouched in an apparently comfortable chair. As Rook approached, childish in the calm spectacle of the room, the Man smiled. His teeth shined white, despite the lack of reflection from his skin.

"Greetings," the Man said. Rook shivered: his voice sounded like a tree looked. "I apologize for not having a place for you to sit: I live very simply here, and I am rather preoccupied by my game, as you no doubt see…"

Rook glanced at the table. It was a chessboard, fully set, with a game in partial progress.

"Then I will not waste your time," said Rook. "Why did you bring me here?"

A low chuckle emanated from the dark around the Man's mouth.

"You are too important to let die. You are part of the game, an essential piece, in fact. So, as I had Akai and Mizuiro at my disposal, it was only logical that I should order them to free you."

"I don't know how to play chess –I am of no help to you in this game."

The chuckle erupted in a full, throaty laugh. The Man rubbed his shadow-hands together giddily.

"The board is only a representation of the game, my friend: it means nothing. Let it suffice to say that you are necessary for my…"

"No," said Rook simply. The Man broke off mid sentence to consider the simple objection.

"No?" he asked. Rook could imagine the eyebrow-cock that came with that tone, even though he could not see it.

"I do not want this, so I will not have this. I am ready to die. I have nothing left to live for, no reason at all to be here. I led a misguided mission, I was… I was wrong for so many years, there can be no forgiveness for what I have done, no forgiveness from God, any god… only from her.

"So kill me. Or send me back to that prison so they can kill me. I have my face, I have my truth. I know what I have done, and that I am meant to do no more. Let me die so I can return…"

"Return to what?" the Man spat, his voice turning quickly harsh. "What makes you so sure there is _anything _waiting for you after the drugs fill you veins and explode your heart? Why do you think your precious sister is waiting for you on the other side?"

Rook's thoughts shattered instantly. His eyes popped and a stutter possessed his tongue.

"How do you know about her?" he demanded.

"Jamie and John Rook, twins born to Ms. Leona Rook, father unknown. You were inseparable growing up and left home together as soon as you could to escape your abusively alcoholic mother. You vanished from public sight for the next seven years, when you held Viridian City captive with four genetically-enhanced Legendary Birds. Your sister died three years ago in what the coroners called a 'training accident'… but that's not what really happened, is it?"

"No," agreed Rook in a shocked whisper.

"You see, there is a lot I know about you… I have had much time to do research. But as I was saying, her death was no accident, was it John? She was murdered. You should avenge her death, you know."

"I already did," murmured Rook, still stunned. "I killed him in cold blood in front of the one he loved most, just like he did to her."

"Good, good."

"And then I tried to hunt down that one, that one he loved," Rook continued. He felt as though he were freeing himself from all he had done by confessing… "Because he wanted revenge as well. It became a senseless cycle, one that I no longer want to be a part of. So kill me."

"There is no reason," the man said after a brief pause. "You are here now, and unbound from this cycle as you wish. You have a new path now, one I shall give to you."

Rook turned away, as if to hide tears; he was, in fact, crying, but he was still not used to his new mask and turned out of habit.

"For the moment, you will work for Akai and Mizuiro. They do not report directly to me, but I often use their invaluable services, so we shall be in touch. Akai, I understand, has your Pokemon in hand and is eager to return them to you. Return to them now. When it is time for you to make a new move, I will send word."

Rook didn't remember walking back to the elevator platform, but he found himself there seconds later nonetheless. As the rotunda shuddered and slowly began shifting down, Rook recalled:

"Who are you?" he asked, quickly and loudly. "What is your name?"

"For now, you may call me Mr. Rakutan," the Man said.

And then the light from below welled up and blinded Rook, and the Man vanished from sight.

(-o-)

So I lay in my hospital bed while my friends roamed the City in search of cash, food, and experience. I was drugged up pretty effectively on _something_ concocted to keep numb while my pneumonia (did I mention I was diagnosed with pneumonia immediately upon entering the hospital? Only a mild case, but still…) was treated.

Treated –if that's what you want to call it: basically, I was left in my tiny, sterile room with my occasionally-coughing room mate. Then again, I was unconscious for most of my stay.

In any case, I was out commission for a few days, hoping my friends could take care of themselves.


	14. Chapter 13: Violet City

**Chapter 13: Violet City**

The next morning, Casey dropped by to inform me that she and Richard were taking Dana to the gym. Richard, who had official taken charge of teaching her ropes of combat, had finally deemed her ready to take on her first gym leader; Casey, who occasional offered nuggets of tactical advice, was somewhat more dubious, but if Dana didn't win, she would at least learn something from it (_and maybe calm down a little bit!_), so she went along for a ride. I volunteered to come as well, but the doctor wouldn't have it, so I would have to wait for the report in a few hours.

(-o-)

Dana cautiously opened the door of the gym… just a crack… she peered in and caught a glimpse of a large, imposing room with violet walls. The instant her head passed through the slit, a pair of young men in white karate tunics noticed her and called out a greeting –Dana yelped in surprise and scurried back away from the door.

Richard and Casey watched, the former amused, and the latter becoming increasingly annoyed…

"Alright," snapped Casey, grabbing the door and hurling it open. "Three tries should be more than enough!" she pointed into the gym. "In! Now!"

Dana was cringing away from Casey already. Looking at Richard for support did her no good: he only nodded in agreement with what Casey said. With a sigh that belied every ounce of her reluctance, Dana entered the gym.

"But what if I loose?" she whispered to Richard thirty seconds later, as the elevator spirited them up to the rooftop battlefield.

"It doesn't matter if you win or loose," Richard said. Then he considered this, and revised: "Well, it doesn't matter as long as you come out in the end. If you loose the first time, we'll go train some more and you can come back and try again. But you won't need to: you're ready for this, I can tell."

Dana smiled nervously and stared at the reflective steel of the elevator door.

Casey tapped her foot impatiently in the corner. She and Richard were next in line after Dana, but there would more than likely be a wait of several minutes in between each fight for Faulkner to heal his Pokemon. That was the only problem with traveling in groups: gym battles became like multi-car pileups.

After a few more seconds of cruising, the elevator eased to a stop. The door opened with a ding, and a chilly breeze billowed in, ruffling the trainers' clothes.

Dana, Casey, and Richard stepped out into the pale light of the afternoon. It was a cool, overcast day, and wind billowed over the dreary rooftops of Violet City. From the top of the gym, Dana realized that she was standing on the only colorful structure in town: the rest of the City was a monotonous spread of straightedge edifices, all the same shade of gray. She frowned, saddened. Her home town, another "air town", was green and colorful. Would the rest of Johto be like this?

"Dana!" called Richard. He was already halfway across the field, talking to Faulkner.

He remembered encountering the flying-type gym leader during his brief stay with the Hermes, but he made no mention of that previous meeting. Neither, in turn, did Faulkner. He spoke Richard and Casey as he did with all trainers who entered his gym: aloof and calm.

Dana trotted over to him, already digging in her pockets for her first pokeball.

"Who's up first?" asked Faulkner. With a flourish, his first ball appeared and enlarged in his hand.

"Me… I guess," said Dana, barely managing to suppress the stutter in her voice.

She did not know why she was so timid: in her training matches, she had felt fine and done rather well (according to Richard; Casey seemed to only admit this fact grudgingly). But… a gym leader? The fact that she was now facing such a monumental opponent cowed her completely. Dana felt like an ant staring up at the sharp beak of a ravenous eagle.

_Eagle don't eat ants,_ she told herself suddenly. Dana frowned, then smiled slightly. _They only eat fish. So I should be fine, right?_

"Alright then, let's get started: it looks like I've got a busy afternoon ahead of me."

"Ok," said Dana. Newfound confidence was beginning to trickled up through her chest, oiling her throat and giving her courage. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "Let's go!"

(-o-)

I peered around the open door of my hospital room. Right: an orderly wheeled a cart away at the very end of the hall. Left: no one. The elevator was right, but I was fairly sure that I could make it, just as soon as that damn orderly was out of sight…

My roommate was asleep, and I was becoming extremely bored as my medications wore off. I felt… better. Good enough to go _watch_ a match, anyway. And I felt bad missing Dana's first gym battle, so naturally I was breaking out.

The second the orderly toddled out of sight, there was red flash and a friendly chime: Calypsa, my trusty Vaporeon, appeared at my feet.

She tried to squeal a greeting –it had been a while since she had been out of her ball for more than a few minutes- but I scooped her up and clamped my hand over her mouth as quickly as I could to stifle the noise. While Calypsa stared at my, confused, I was struck by a bout of dizziness brought on by my rapid moment. I wobbled a little bit, sliding out of the door frame and into the hallway, and I would have fallen over had Calypsa not pushed my back upright with her tale; with the same motion, she sprang out of my arms and back onto the floor. I clutched my head and cringed while she preened her sleek coat at my feet.

"Alright," I said a moment later, when I had regained control of my balance. The hallway was, thankfully, still abandoned. "Hey Calypsa. I'm gonna need some help, ok? I need you go ahead of my and keep sniffing for people, ok? If anyone is coming, bark to warn me…"

(-o-)

"Dive in for a Peck, Pigeotto!"

"Ah!" yelped Dana. Treecko uttered a similar shriek. "Quick, Treecko get out of there!"

The grass Pokemon bounded into the air like a leaf caught by the wind, as far away in any direction from where it was as it could manage… there was a golden-brown blur and Pigeotto impacted the spot where it had been moments before. The bird Pokemon pulled up from its dive out of foresight and landed powerfully on its scaly feet. It tossed its head up to search for Treecko, and its main of flowing red hair billowed impressively in the wind.

Treecko clung to the wall that bordered the stadium, a few yards away from its foe. Pigeotto cawed loudly as it caught sight of the grass Pokemon, and Treecko squealed loudly and began hauling itself up the wall, which was about twenty feet high.

With a single wing-beat, Pigeotto was below it, looking up with its beak wide open.

Faulkner sighed, as if embarrassed by the ease with which his opponent was being defeated.

"Knock it down with Gust," he ordered.

Pigeotto cocked one wing, as if bored, then brushed it forward, sending a dust devil sailing up toward Treecko…

"Now jump, Treecko!" countered Dana.

Treecko released its sticky hold on the wall and pushed off, up, with its wiry green legs. The grass Pokemon was hurled into the air, and the Gust spun itself out on impact with the wall…

"Pound!"

Treecko flipped once, with uncharacteristic elegance, and descended like a green comet. Its bushy green tail slammed into Pigeotto's surprised face and the bird Pokemon was thrown a few yards, where it landed on its side. It twitched for a few moments, but showed no signs of getting back to its feet.

"Pigeotto is unable to battle!" declared the white-clad referee, raising his right arm to indicate that Dana had won the first round. "Treecko and Dana are the victors."

"Yes!" yelled Dana. Treecko sprinted to her side and they jumped into the air together, pumping their fists in the air.

The ref continued: "Round two will now commence."

Dana forgot to land on her feet and wound up sprawled on the ground in surprise.

"Round what?" she asked, dazed.

"Round two," said Richard. "You have to beat three of Faulkner's Pokemon to get your badge."

"Oh," said Dana, helping herself up. "Well… we can handle it, right Treecko?"

The grass Pokemon crowed in agreement.

"Alright," she continued. "Bring it! Let's go round two!"

"Not so easy on her this time," Faulkner said to his next pokeball. "Go, Skarmory!"

With a burst of light, a seven foot tall metal creature, which looked like a cross between a condor and a jet fighter, appeared on the field. Treecko's eyes widened and it stepped inconspicuously behind its trainer.

"Let's go," declared the gym leader. "Sandstorm!"

Skarmory's terrifying cycle-shaped beak snapped open and let out a horrendous sound. Dana glanced behind her and Treecko had fled to the back of the arena and was already climbing up the wall… the bird Pokemon raised its head to the sky, continuing its harsh call, and the atmosphere around the battlefield changed: the wind picked up instantly, and Treecko was thrown back to the floor. Sand worked its way into the sky, and in seconds, the tower was surrounded in a twisting shroud of brown: Sandstorm.

The grit bit into Treecko and its trainer alike, but the grass Pokemon was more adversely affected. It squeezed its eyes shut to the keep the sand out, and looked pained.

"This isn't going to work, is it?" Dana asked her advisors.

"Treecko can still fight," Casey told her. "Don't give up just because the weather changed: keep pushing him. After all, you've already got one victory under your belt."

Dana nodded gravely, but headed her advice.

"Treecko, use Quick Attack!"

The grass Pokemon sprinted forward bravely, shuttering its fear of the steel colossus before it, but it was a vain attempt: Treecko was affectively blinded by the sand. Skarmory didn't even have to move to evade the attack. Treecko charged wide and wound up bowled over by the wind.

Faulkner nodded to his Pokemon, and it took to the air in a flurry of shining wings. The gym leader was somehow unaffected by the painful tempest. Dana, on the other hand, shielded her eyes with her arm and tried to follow Skarmory up…

"Treecko, get ready, it's gonna come down at you!"

Though it looked around as much as it could, Treecko could not hope to detect any sign its opponent. Neither, Dana realized, could she: the sand was growing thicker, and she could only see Treecko as a pastel blur behind a silky veil of blown earth. Dana caught a flicker of movement as it cast its gaze around, searching for the shine of metal…

Dana saw it first: a white blur descending directly at Treecko's front, down through the sand.

"Bullet Seed straight ahead!" she called.

Treecko's green silhouette tilted its head up and fired a volley of tiny wooden missiles. The Seeds, made invisible to Dana by distance and sand, ascended quickly, on a collision course with Skarmory's chest.

Dana heard Faulkner call out something, she could not be sure what over the wail of the wind: the white form of Skarmory vanished, only to reappear instantly behind Treecko, out of the path of the Bullet Seeds.

The bird slammed into Dana's Pokemon and sent it flying. Treecko landed a few yards from Dana's feet and reluctantly began struggling up. Dana grabbed its pokeball, and aimed to return Treecko.

"Don't," said Casey. "It can take more."

"What?" Dana shouted back. "Are you crazy? Treecko doesn't stand a chance. I need to try someone else…"

"No you don't. Treecko is easily as fast as Skarmory, you just don't know how to harvest that speed yet."

"Well gee, that's useful information now!" retorted Dana.

Casey closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "Keep Treecko in battle, and keep it _going. _Don't let it _stop._"

Dana turned her attention back to Treecko and snorted.

"Treecko, will you give it one more try?"

The grass Pokemon, which now crouched at her side, nodded.

"Alright," Dana sighed, obviously reluctant. "Let's try and get in close, ok?"

"Don't stop running," Casey added. "If you do, Skarmory will be able to lock in on your position and dive for a lot of damage. If you don't let it get that chance, you might get an opportunity of your own to strike."

While this conversation took place, the storm began to ease: the sand became less and less opaque, and slowly, the luminous, thorny steel-bird Pokemon materialized on the far side of the field.

Faulkner pointed strait at Treecko. "Steel Wing!"

Skarmory pulsed forward, its lustrous wings beating frantically.

"Get moving!" called Dana.

Treecko nodded quickly and was gone, a green blur arcing around the silver one. The two turned and circled each other at a distance. Occasionally, features appeared starkly on the rushing forms, eyes, arms, beaks… Suddenly, the two rushed each other and crashed together. Again, Treecko was sent flying and Skarmory stood triumphant, its head cocked confidently. What no one noticed was the faintly glowing green residue left on the bird Pokemon's chest.

Treecko tumbled to a stop, and this time, didn't seem to have the strength to get back up. Dana bit her fingernail, but still didn't notice the stain on Skarmory's skin.

Summoning an ultimate reserve of strength, Treecko clenched a miniscule green fist: the residue on Skarmory's chest detached itself and flew into Treecko's hand. It flashed briefly, and the radiance spread over Treecko's skin. When it faded, several of his scratches and bruises had vanished. Skarmory, on the other hand, reacted as though it had yanked forward. The Pokemon stumbled, landed face-down on the field, and began struggling awkwardly back up.

Casey smiled, and whispered to Richard, "I think that Treecko is a better fighter than Dana knows what to do with."

"What was that?" Dana asked her Pokemon.

Treecko grinned cheekily.

"I'd say it was a Mega Drain," said Richard. "Very impressive."

Dana cried out happily and began a bout of pre-mature laudations for her Pokemon.

Faulkner sighed and gestured his Pokemon back to its feet.

"This isn't over yet."

(-o-)

"Hey!"

Oh damn.

"Run for it Calypsa!"

Together, my sinewy water Pokemon and I bolted for the door. We had almost made it out of the lobby undetected… almost. But that was of no matter now, the exit was in sight!

Two twin chimes indicated the deposit of two identical Pokemon: a pair of bulbous pink forms, both clad in charming nurse hats and clutching at the eggs in their apron-like stomach pouches, blocked our way. Two orderly Chanseys, affectively sealing off the door. Well, somewhat affective.

"Water Pulse!" I called quickly.

Calypsa obliged happily, and the resulting burst of water blew the unfortunate Pokemon out of the way and opened the door in one fell swoop.

"Sorry!" I called back at them. And I meant it: but I had somewhere to be, and they had no right to stop them. I came to the hospital for help, which I no longer needed… probably no longer needed: I guess I'm not sure of myself at all today. Ah well.

I switched Pokemon quickly, summoning Gusto, my entertainingly ravenous Lickilicki, who could be coerced into carrying me to the gym at high speed for the toll of a few hot dogs later in the day. And so, in a flurry of stubby pink legs, we set off at top speed for the purple tower where my friends were fighting their first gym battle of Johto.

Hopefully I would get there before anything interesting happened.


	15. Author's note and farewell

Greetings.

That is, hey everybody who used to read this!

You probably don't need me to tell you that this story has been discontinued, as has been my fanfic writing career, for the foreseeable future. I learned a lot about writing and about myself in doing it, but it's done. The Sagas are done, and I'm sorry I couldn't finish this story for those of you who read.

If you wanted to know, from Violet City, Ian and Casey are asked to train in LaRouse City to become agents of the Hermes; they accept and leave behind Richard and Dana, who are frustrated at being abandoned by their friends. Dana and Richard go on to compete in the Johto League, with Richard losing out in the finals against Ryoku; Dana becomes a powerful trainer as well. Meanwhile, in Hoen, Ian and Casey discover that Tori Letour is defeating Hoen gym leaders and killing them so that no further trainers can claim badges. The Hermes give Ian a device that can track the unique chemical signals of badges, and he and Casey set out to stop Tori and gain (by defeating other trainers) the badges they can no longer get. They catch up to Tori in Lavaridge Town; Tori attempts to kill Flannery, who almost escapes by flying with Ian and Casey, but Flannery is shot down by Tori and Ian and Casey fall into the desert. When they find their way out, they confront Tori again with Volkner in Foretree; Ian's father gets involved and injured. Tori finally defeats Ian at the Hoen championship and becomes champion of Hoen; she then claims the relics of all the legendary Pokemon in Hoen (with her spies stealing other relics from Johto, Kanto, and the Orange Islands) and brings them to Spear Pillar, where she transfixes them into plates to be wielded by Arceus. Cynthia, the ex champion, tries to stop her and dies. Ian and Casey go into hiding in Sinnoh, where Ian finds information about his mother. They track her down and find her outside of Snowpoint, where she is training under a legendary trainer, Red (Ash). Ian joins her in training but does not trust her. Ultimately, Tori is revealed to be a pawn of Mr. Rokutan, AKA Blue (Gary); Blue summons Arceus and captures it with a red chain. Using its power and the power of the other legendaries, he levitates a huge crystal fortress and embarks to take over the Pokemon world from the top down. Richard and Dana meet up with Casey and Ian again, and with Red and Ian's mother (Sapphire) and father (Ruby) they attempt to take down Blue. They almost fail, due to Arceus' power, but receive battle-winning help from Mewtwo who is alerted by Matt's Dragonite (the black rider with Dragonite is revealed to be a Ghastly owned by Matt, trained to help Ian after his death). Mewtwo brings Mew and the two destroy the crystal fortress and free Arceus. The legendary Pokemon depart and Blue and Red and Ian battle atop the falling fortress. Red holds Blue off so that Ian can escape but Red dies in the process. The others morn his death, but Richard and Dana fall in love and go on to become champions of Kanto and Johto respectively when Ryoku retires. Casey, who had several more emotional episodes and disappearances throughout the tail, decides to stop wandering and fighting and try and be in a stable relationship with Ian. Ian agrees to try, because for all their disagreements and troubles in the past, he loves her. They move into Pallet Town, with Ian becoming the town's new resident professor and giving children their first Pokemon. The story ends with Ian and Casey's children playing in Sebastian's now hollow shell by the beach, before the eldest gets her first Pokemon and departs on her journey peacefully.

And so it ends, haha. It would going to be 151 chapters total, but alas… Anyway, while my tail is over before it was meant to end, my dearest sister is about to open a fanfic account with the intent of writing a Pokemon story… she's got a really great idea, borrowing a few ideas from mine. I'll be spellchecking her work for her, as well as offering advice, and maybe penning a paragraph/chapter or two along the way… anyway, she's a much better writer than I ever was, she just needs a little help with the ideas, which I can do. I'll post her name as a chapter when she makes her account. I don't know if any of you are still interested in reading Pokemon fics, but I figured it couldn't hurt to let you know.

I'm sorry to let you all down by not finishing this story, but I hope you'll enjoy my sister's work. I know, if you read it, that you will. Thanks for sticking with me for so long. I know it was a long read, and I'm honored that so many people made it through it.

Peace.

-John


	16. Forward to Sister

Alright, anybody interesting in reading my sis's story, she is in the process of creating a new account with the penname **ScythianEmpirez **(props to anybody who gets the reference, Andrew Bird is one of our shared pleasures :3 ). It should be up by tomorrow, I've read over her first two chapters and it's a great start to something amazing.

So thank you all once again!

For probably the last time, this is John/TOFH, signing off.


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